Not a single person in Ghana’s Upper East Region reported incidents of bribery to anti-corruption institutions during the first half of 2025, despite 12.9 percent of the region’s population admitting they paid bribes to public officials, according to a new government report that has exposed a crisis of confidence in oversight mechanisms.
The finding, contained in the Ghana Statistical Service’s Governance Series Wave 2 Report released during African Statistics Day commemorations, represents a dramatic collapse in reporting from Wave 1, when 13.5 percent of Upper East residents who gave bribes reported the incidents to official or non-official anti-corruption institutions.
The pattern extended beyond the Upper East Region. Nationally, only about 6 out of every 100 persons who gave gifts to public officials reported the incidents to anti-corruption institutions in Wave 2, down from 15 out of 100 in Wave 1—a drop of more than 50 percent.
“It’s unfortunate and it all boils down to the institutions,” said Priscilla Nyaaba, Executive Director of the Youth Harvest Foundation Ghana, a civil society organization based in Bolgatanga. “It’s possible in 2024 people reported and nothing was done, and so what would encourage somebody to go and report something that happened to her or him last year and nothing was done about it?”
Ms. Nyaaba’s assessment pointed to a fundamental breakdown in Ghana’s anti-corruption architecture, where citizens who take the risk of reporting malfeasance see no consequences for perpetrators and lose faith in the system’s ability to protect them or deliver justice.
“It’s as if the institutions are failing us,” she said in an interview following the report’s release. “I would want to call on the institutions that are responsible for some of these issues to sit up because if somebody brings you a report, it is now up to your responsibility to take up that report and investigate and see the truth in it.”
The Wave 2 report, which surveyed more than 5,640 respondents from January to June 2025, revealed that the vast majority—94.2 percent—of Ghanaians who paid bribes did not report the incidents to any anti-corruption institution, official or otherwise. This represents a significant increase from Wave 1, when 85 percent failed to report.
The reporting patterns showed significant geographic disparities. Volta Region recorded the highest reporting rate at 18.1 percent, followed by Upper West at 14.1 percent and North East at 12.1 percent. These figures represented a dramatic shift from Wave 1, when Ahafo led with 35.6 percent, Bono with 34 percent, and North East with 32 percent.
The complete absence of reporting in the Upper East Region stood in sharp contrast to the region’s corruption experience. The report documented that 12.9 percent of Upper East residents gave gifts to public officials during the survey period, while the region recorded the second-highest payments exceeding 1,000 Ghana cedis at 19.1 percent, up from 7.1 percent in Wave 1.
More troubling, the Upper East Region saw the sharpest increase in “exchange of favors”—a category that includes sexual exploitation—which surged from 10.4 percent in Wave 1 to 32.7 percent in Wave 2, the highest rate recorded in the country.
Among those who did report nationally, the gender split remained consistent with Wave 1: two-thirds of reporters were males at 66.5 percent, while one-third were females at 33.5 percent. Urban dwellers were more than twice as likely to report incidents—68.3 percent—compared to rural residents at 31.7 percent.
Ms. Nyaaba emphasized that until institutions demonstrate they will investigate complaints thoroughly and sanction offenders, citizens will continue to view reporting as futile. “Until we are beginning to sanction people in this area, this situation will not change,” she said.
The broader corruption landscape showed mixed signals. Overall bribery declined from 18.4 percent of the population in Wave 1 to 14.3 percent in Wave 2, suggesting some progress in reducing the incidence of corruption.
However, among those who did pay bribes, the frequency increased dramatically. The proportion giving gifts five or more times rose from 6.9 percent to 24 percent—a more than threefold increase—indicating that repeat corruption has become more entrenched among those caught in the system.
The report documented increased contact between citizens and public officials across all demographic groups. In the Upper East Region specifically, the proportion of people with at least one contact with a public official increased substantially, with urban dwellers rising from 55.4 percent to 75.8 percent and rural residents from 56.1 percent to 71.2 percent.
The Motor Traffic and Transport Division of the Ghana Police Service remained the institution most associated with bribes at 51.9 percent, down from 61 percent in Wave 1. Police General Duties, the Passport Office, and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority rounded out the most frequently cited institutions.
Direct requests for bribes from officials decreased significantly from 51.3 percent to 38.6 percent, while the proportion of citizens who gave gifts as voluntary appreciation nearly doubled from 17.6 percent to 32.9 percent—a shift that may reflect normalization of corrupt practices or fear of directly acknowledging coercion.
The amounts paid as bribes generally declined, with 85.4 percent of monetary gifts remaining below 500 Ghana cedis. Three out of every 10 persons who gave money paid between 100 and 500 cedis, while the proportion paying 1,000 cedis or more halved from 15.6 percent to 6.6 percent.
The Governance Series measures citizens’ actual experiences with corruption rather than perceptions, tracking progress toward Sustainable Development Goal 16.5.1 on reducing bribery. It also monitors SDG Indicator 16.7.2 on inclusive and responsive decision-making.
Upper East Regional Minister Donatus Akamugri Atanga, speaking at the report’s release, called for the Ghana Statistical Service to expand its data collection to include religious bodies and private sector officials, arguing that corruption extends beyond public institutions.
“There’s a collaboration between all the sectors,” Mr. Atanga said. “If everybody’s on board, and you see that the religious bodies do this, other people who are providing public sector services are also taking bribes, everybody will be alerted.”
The report was released during the 35th commemoration of African Statistics Day, observed annually on November 18. This year’s continental theme emphasized leveraging innovation in data and statistics to promote just, peaceful, and prosperous societies for Africans.
The Youth Harvest Foundation Ghana, which Nyaaba leads, works on youth empowerment, sexual and reproductive health rights, and combating child marriage across the Upper East Region. The organization has been operational for more than two decades and implements programs in partnership with international development organizations.
The next wave of the Governance Series survey is expected to be conducted later in 2025, providing updated data on whether institutional reforms have improved both corruption levels and citizens’ willingness to report malfeasance to authorities.
Source: a1radioonline.com|101.1Mhz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Bolgatanga
