Ghanaian president, John Mahama has directed all Ministries, Departments and government agencies to desist from using public resources for Christmas and New Year gifts such as hampers this year.
A letter from the Office of the President the decision, which previously affected only the ministries, has been extended to include the
Departments and Agencies under the Ministries and also Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies.
This is part of government’s efforts to curb corruption. Meanwhile this means less money for those who package these gifts.
Our correspondent, Eunice Agyare reports that thousands of gift hampers, every Christmas, are given out to board members and close associates to the various government departments and agencies.
Giving or receiving gifts at Christmas is normal. But When it is given to or coming from a government official, it could mean a lot of things.
The president has been widely applauded for this directive by civil society groups and individuals committed to the fight against corruption. For the Executive Director of Ghana Integrity Initiative, this is a good step towards the fight against corruption in the country. He is, however, wondering if this can be sustained.
Here, thousands of baskets are made each year. Assorted gifts are put in here, wrapped and decorated with ribbon. Some are made on order and most of these orders, I’m told, are from government agencies.
Transparency International’s 2013 Corruption Index showed that Ghana scored 46 points out of a score of 100 and ranked 63rd out of 177
countries included in the survey. This means Ghana's performance is a slight improvement from the 45 points scored last year.
The country missed the pass mark by 4 points.
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