The Chief Executive Officer of Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors (CBOD) in the Republic of Ghana, Senyo Hosi has decried what he described as endemic systemic culture of corruption as the root cause of uneven standard of living in the West African nation.
He said corruption has eaten into every fabric of Ghana’s socio-political systems that, institutions are not working, laws are bent to favour the norm and the system continues to work to favour just select-privileged few at the detriment of the masses.
Mr. Hosi said this in a virtual conference themed: ‘Corruption: Weak Institutions-We Are Going Nowhere’, in Accra, capital of Ghana.
The conference was organised by the Rotary Club of Accra.
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“In our industry, we lost GHc8.2 billion in taxes because of illegal trade and theft of taxes. Clearly, anybody who has been found culpable come suggesting that he or she is a member of the party in power.”
He explained that the trend makes nonsense, arguing that one does not steal from the people and come and talk about political party.
He stressed that the state being milked is not party machinery, but it is the people such corrupt officials are stealing from.
Quoting from Section 179, subsection(c) of the Ghana’s Criminal Offences Act of 1960, Mr. Hosi argued that many contracts; be it competitive bidding or sole sourcing, officials and private individuals have ways to succumvent procurement processes to milk the state.
Touching on political campaign funding and awarding of contracts as compensation for such businessmen, he observed that until structures were put in place to regulate the norm, the gap between the rich few and the majority poor would continue to widen.
The phenomenon, he opined makes nonsense of hard work, education and discipline to the advantage of those who just network in the Ghanaian society.
Corruption, Senyo Hosi stressed denies the future of poor people from succeeding or from hoping to transform their existing lives to the advantage of corrupt officials.
He further contended that corruption thrives where political governance systems are porous, leadership is poor and institutions are weak.
“Unfortunately, in our country, I think all of these exist badly enough and is quite a recurring feature for a long time,” he concluded.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
