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Is corruption the same as bribery?
Kojo Bartels Cudjoe, North Legon.
Dear Kojo, Corruption means the abuse of a public office for personal gain or other illegal or immoral benefit. Corruption is defined by Transparency International as the misuse of entrusted power for private gain. Corruption may be effected in cash or in kind and consideration may include tribal obligations, sexual favours, the old school boy tie, the Lodge brotherhood, self-gratification, putting round pegs in square holes in national appointments because of party consideration and the use of ‘ghost’ workers to collect salaries.
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There is corruption in the failure of political and government leaders to carry out the educational, social, health, infrastructural and developmental function that falls to them in a democracy. Double talks, telling people only what they want to hear and not calling things by their name for purely electoral reasons are practices that corrupt and degrade individuals, societies and the democratic system.
Section 240 of the Criminal and Other Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29) deals with acts constituting corruption by public officers and voters. According to the relevant provisions of the section, “a public officer, juror or voter is guilty of corruption in respect of duties of his office or vote if he directly or indirectly agrees or offers to permit his conduct as such officer, juror or voter to be influenced by the gift, promise or prospect of any valuable consideration to be received by him, or by any other person, from any person whomsoever”.
A bribe is a form of corruption which involves the promise of money or a favour to someone in a position of power with the hope of influencing that person's behaviour. Examples are: a ‘trotro’ driver being arrested for going through a red light might offer a bribe to the police officer to ask him not to charge him before court, tip, gift, perk, skim, favour, discount, waived fee/ticket, free food, free advertisement, free trip, free tickets, sweetheart deal, kickback/payback, funding, inflated sale of an object or property, lucrative contract, grease money, donation, campaign contribution, fund-raiser, sponsorship/backing, higher-paying job, stock options, secret commission or promotion.
Bribery is viewed as a crime in many regions of the world, and people who are caught offering or receiving bribes may face hefty penalties. In other regions, the line between bribing and tipping is sometimes rather blur, which can make it difficult to prosecute people for bribery or to understand when one has crossed the line.
The cancer of corruption has become so endemic that it is threatening the progress of many nations. Corruption is a symptom of bad governance. It undermines democratic values and disturbs the development priorities of a country.
Furthermore, corruption slows down sustainable economic growth by disrupting the distribution of scarce goods. Where misery and socio-economic inequality abound, corruption is a theft from the poor and impoverishes the people, raises the cost of goods and services and increases the debt of a country among others.
The punishment for corruption is either direct prosecution by the State and if convicted, a misdemeanour is imposed or an investigation by the Commission For Human Rights and Administrative Justice before a report is made to the Attorney-General for prosecution.
Section 252 of the Criminal and Other Offences Acts provides that:
“(1) Whoever accepts, or agrees or offers to accept any valuable consideration, under pretence or colour of having unduly influenced, or of agreeing or being able so to influence, any person in respect of his functions as a public officer or juror, is guilty of a misdemeanour.
“(2) Whoever gives, or agrees or offers to give to any public officer any valuable consideration for the grant to himself or to ny other person of any benefit or advantage or for the exercise of influence in favour of himself or any other person is guilty of a misdemeanour.”
Further, Article 218 (e) of the 1992 Constitution provides that the Commission For Human Rights and Administrative Justice shall investigate all instances of alleged or suspected corruption and the misappropriation of public money by officials and to take appropriate steps, including reports to the Attorney-General and the Auditor-General, resulting from such investigations.
All these beautiful laws and provisions on corruption have eluded this country in its fight against the canker. In 2017, another attempt was made to confront the problem by the passage by Parliament of the Office of The Special Prosecutor Act, 2017 (Act 959). The office is a specialised agency with authority to investigate specific cases of alleged or suspected corruption and corruption-related offences involving public officers and politically exposed persons in the performance of their functions, as well as persons in the private sector involved in the commission of alleged or suspected corruption and corruption-related offences.
The office is to prosecute these offences, recover and manage the proceeds of corruption. Other functions of the office are to co-operate and coordinate with competent authorities and other relevant local and international agencies in furtherance of the fight against corruption, receive and investigate complaints from a person on a matter that involves or may involve corruption and corruption-related offences, receive and act on referrals of investigations of alleged corruption and corruption-related offences by Parliament, the Auditor-General's Office, the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, the Economic and Organised Crime Office and any other public body.