- Anti-Corruption Fight Must Move from Institutions to Results — UK
The United Kingdom has challenged Ghana to move its anti-corruption agenda beyond legislation, institutional architecture and political commitments, arguing that the real test of reform is whether enforcement improves public services, protects state resources and produces measurable accountability.
Hooman Nouruzi, Head of the Political, Security & Governance Team at the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, said Ghana already possesses many of the laws and institutions required to fight corruption, but warned that their existence alone does not guarantee effective implementation.
Speaking at the National Anti-Corruption Dialogue 2026, convened under the theme “From Commitment to Delivery: Reviewing the Mahama Administration’s Anti-Corruption Agenda After 18 Months”, Mr Nouruzi said the challenge was ensuring that reforms move from design into sustained institutional practice.
“The challenge, therefore, as is often the case around the world, lies not only in designing reforms but ensuring their effective implementation, sustaining political commitment, and strengthening public demand for accountability,” he said.
The intervention goes to the heart of Ghana’s longstanding governance challenge.
The country has established a network of accountability institutions, including the Auditor-General, Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, Office of the Special Prosecutor, Economic and Organised Crime Office and parliamentary oversight mechanisms.
Yet the existence of those institutions does not automatically translate into deterrence, recovery of stolen assets, efficient expenditure or stronger confidence in government.
Mr Nouruzi argued that Ghana’s democratic performance should therefore be assessed by more than the conduct of elections.
“Democratic success must go beyond elections,” he said, adding that citizens expect public institutions to “deliver services efficiently, manage public resources responsibly, and uphold the highest standards of integrity and accountability.”
The economic consequences of failing that test can be substantial. Corruption can function as a hidden tax on public expenditure when procurement processes are compromised, projects cost more than necessary or financial controls fail to prevent resources from being diverted.
Mr Nouruzi said corruption diverts resources away from healthcare, education, infrastructure and social services while weakening trust in public institutions and discouraging investment and economic growth.
The burden is also uneven. Wealthier citizens can sometimes purchase private alternatives when state services deteriorate, but poorer households are more dependent on publicly funded healthcare, schools, roads, water infrastructure and social protection.
The governance question is therefore also a distributional one: weak systems can impose their heaviest costs on citizens with the least capacity to absorb them.
Ghana’s recent budget transparency performance provides another indication of the challenge.
According to the document, the 2025 Open Budget Survey gave Ghana an overall score of 25 out of 100, while its budget transparency score fell from 46 in 2023 to 22 in 2025. The assessment also identified weaknesses in the timeliness and completeness of budget information made available to the public.
That means the anti-corruption debate cannot be restricted to high-profile criminal cases.
It must also address the systems through which public resources are planned, allocated, spent and scrutinised.
Mr Nouruzi said experience showed anti-corruption measures were most effective when they focused not only on individuals and individual cases but also on the systemic weaknesses and incentives that allow corruption to persist.
He identified procurement reform, greater transparency in public financial management, improved access to information, asset recovery, political-finance reform and technology-enabled public services as areas requiring sustained attention.
That approach marks an important distinction.
Prosecutions remain necessary for accountability, but they occur after misconduct has already taken place. Strong procurement controls, transparent expenditure systems, electronic records and effective oversight can potentially reduce opportunities for abuse before public resources are lost.
Technology, in particular, could strengthen that preventive architecture. Digital procurement platforms, open government data, electronic financial-management systems and stronger data sharing between oversight institutions can create audit trails that make irregular transactions more difficult to conceal.
But Mr Nouruzi warned that systems alone would not solve the problem. He placed civil society at the centre of the accountability ecosystem, describing civil-society organisations as “watchdogs, advocates, conveners, and partners in reform”.
Through research, policy dialogue, budget monitoring, citizen education, social-accountability initiatives and investigative journalism, civil society can provide an external layer of scrutiny over state institutions.
“The role of civil society in strengthening democratic institutions and amplifying citizens’ voices cannot be overstated,” he said. “Indeed, no sustainable anti-corruption agenda can succeed without an active, informed, and engaged citizenry.”
The UK said its support for Ghana was consequently focused on a broader governance ecosystem rather than isolated anti-corruption interventions.
Mr Nouruzi said the British government was supporting such efforts through its Governance Programme and other initiatives involving government institutions, civil society, the media and accountability actors.
Earlier this year, FCDO-backed media capacity-building initiatives also supported journalists to interpret audit findings and use accountability tools more effectively.
The information dimension is central to that agenda. Citizens cannot properly scrutinise public expenditure when budget documents are unavailable, published late or too difficult to understand. Parliament cannot exercise effective oversight without reliable information, while journalists and civil-society organisations require access to credible records if they are to hold public institutions to account.
Mr Nouruzi also argued that fighting corruption required a broader culture of integrity involving public officials, politicians, businesses, journalists, faith leaders, educators and ordinary citizens.
That, he said, must include stronger protections for whistleblowers and independent oversight institutions capable of operating without fear or political interference.
Ultimately, the UK official said Ghana’s anti-corruption reforms should now be judged by delivery rather than declarations.
“How do we translate commitments into action? How do we strengthen collaboration between state and non-state actors? How do we ensure that anti-corruption reforms deliver tangible improvements in the lives of the people of this country?” he asked.
“The answers require partnership, persistence, and political will.”
For the UK, however, that political will must remain locally driven.
Mr Nouruzi said Britain’s role was not to prescribe solutions but to support Ghanaian institutions and stakeholders working to advance transparency, accountability and inclusive governance.
The broader lesson is that anti-corruption policy is inseparable from fiscal credibility, investor confidence, public-sector efficiency and the quality of economic growth.
For Ghana, the next phase of the fight will therefore be judged less by the number of institutions it can point to and more by whether those institutions make public resources harder to steal, public services more effective and citizens more confident that decisions are being made in the national interest.
