Set record straight on land 'grabbing' issues--GII urges Lands Commission, Friday, October 29, 2010) pg 13
THE Executive Secretary of the Ghana Integrity Initiative, Mr Vitus AAzeem, has called on the Land Commission and other relevant government agencies to come out and set the record straight on issues concerning ‘land grabbing’ which has become a topical issue in the country.
“GII calls for more transparency not only on the sale of government lands but on disposal of all government assets both in the past and currently, including Ghana @ 50 houses and cars,” he stated.
Mr Azeem, who was speaking at the launch of this year’s edition of Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI), said it was imperative for the government to provide evidence of payment by all beneficiaries and the rationale for any discounted prices.
The CPI assessed the extent of corruption among public officials and politicians. It reflects the views from around the world, including those of experts living and working in the countries evaluated.
“Our message is clear; across the globe, transparency and accountability are critical to restoring trust and turning back the tide of corruption. Without them, global policy solutions to many global crises are at risk. This equally applies to Ghana — the call for transparency, accountability and integrity in public service”, Mr Azeem said.
It will be recalled that the Daily Graphic of Tuesday, October 12, 2010 reported that the government has halted with immediate effect the rampant disposal of state lands in some parts of Accra under the Accra Development Policy.
The government also referred the report of the National Security on the acquisition of such lands to the Attorney-General’s office for advice on the future of the policy, which was instituted to facilitate the development of some government lands in prime areas including Cantonments, Airport Residential Area, Kanda, Switchback and Ridge.
Ghana recorded its highest performance ever in the history of the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) scoring 4.1 out of 10 as against 3.3 recorded last year in the latest 2010 Transparency International CPI released last Tuesday.
The country is ranked the 7th least corrupt among 47 African countries and 62nd among 178 countries surveyed this year.
This represents an improvement over Ghana’s 2009 ranking of 69 with a score of 3.9. The country scored 3.3 in 1999. It recorded 3.7 in 2008 and 3.9 in 2008 respectively.
Botswana leads the African region with a score of 5.8 followed by Mauritius, Cape Verde, Seychelles, South Africa and Namibia while the most corrupt countries in Africa include Nigeria which scored 2.2 and ranked 28 in Africa and 134 globally followed by Guinea, Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Burundi, Chad, Sudan with Somalia ranked as the most corrupt country in the world.
At the Global level, Denmark, New Zealand and Singapore share the top spot followed by Finland, Sweden, Canada and the Netherlands in that order.
Since the inception of the CPI, no African country had scored six or above.
“GII calls for more transparency not only on the sale of government lands but on disposal of all government assets both in the past and currently, including Ghana @ 50 houses and cars,” he stated.
Mr Azeem, who was speaking at the launch of this year’s edition of Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI), said it was imperative for the government to provide evidence of payment by all beneficiaries and the rationale for any discounted prices.
The CPI assessed the extent of corruption among public officials and politicians. It reflects the views from around the world, including those of experts living and working in the countries evaluated.
“Our message is clear; across the globe, transparency and accountability are critical to restoring trust and turning back the tide of corruption. Without them, global policy solutions to many global crises are at risk. This equally applies to Ghana — the call for transparency, accountability and integrity in public service”, Mr Azeem said.
It will be recalled that the Daily Graphic of Tuesday, October 12, 2010 reported that the government has halted with immediate effect the rampant disposal of state lands in some parts of Accra under the Accra Development Policy.
The government also referred the report of the National Security on the acquisition of such lands to the Attorney-General’s office for advice on the future of the policy, which was instituted to facilitate the development of some government lands in prime areas including Cantonments, Airport Residential Area, Kanda, Switchback and Ridge.
Ghana recorded its highest performance ever in the history of the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) scoring 4.1 out of 10 as against 3.3 recorded last year in the latest 2010 Transparency International CPI released last Tuesday.
The country is ranked the 7th least corrupt among 47 African countries and 62nd among 178 countries surveyed this year.
This represents an improvement over Ghana’s 2009 ranking of 69 with a score of 3.9. The country scored 3.3 in 1999. It recorded 3.7 in 2008 and 3.9 in 2008 respectively.
Botswana leads the African region with a score of 5.8 followed by Mauritius, Cape Verde, Seychelles, South Africa and Namibia while the most corrupt countries in Africa include Nigeria which scored 2.2 and ranked 28 in Africa and 134 globally followed by Guinea, Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Burundi, Chad, Sudan with Somalia ranked as the most corrupt country in the world.
At the Global level, Denmark, New Zealand and Singapore share the top spot followed by Finland, Sweden, Canada and the Netherlands in that order.
Since the inception of the CPI, no African country had scored six or above.
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