Research On Perception Of Corruption In The Ghana Civil Service

Corruption which implies using public o ffice for private gain and nepotism,which simply means hiring relat ives,friends,regardless o f their merit s and potent ials to occupy public o ffices.The exposition o f so me civil servants serving under the Judicial Service engaging in petty corruption and grand corruption by an independent journalist put the country in a state of myst ificat ion.This research analyzed corruptio n by qualitat ively exploring the perspect ives and percept ions of civil servants in the Ghana civil service.The study focused on corruption by looking at the causes,consequences as well as suggest ing concrete ant icorruption po licies to help minimize the level o f corruption in the Ghana civil service.The main focal po int of the study was to answer the fo llowing research quest ions: How does corruptio n affect the performance o f civil servants in the Ghana Civil Service? What are the causes and consequences o f corruption in the Ghana civil service? What is the state of mind o f civil servants regarding the pheno mena o f corruption in the Ghana civil service? How could ant i-corruptio n policies and programs help to efficient ly and effect ively reduce corruptio n in the Ghana civil service? Wit h a qualitat ive approach,this study surveyed 153 civil servants in the Ghana civil service.This study performed a content analysis o n three interviews and one hundred and fift y semi-structured open-ended quest ions to gain insights about different perceptio ns amo ngst departments in the Ghana civil service head office.The study found that the absence o f accountabilit y,consistency and transparency,as well as weakness in the inst itutional framework such as the Judicial and legislat ive structures,provides a breeding grounds for the nurturing o f corruption in the Ghana civil service.Secondly,the study argues that perceptions of corruption may not be the matching realit y and could be a reflect io n of unfair truth.Based on the evidence,the study made available a theoretical ground in which an individual may choose to be corrupt or clean by examining the rational and funct ionalist views.Result s of the studies indicate that increased levels o f corruption in the Ghana civil service have result ed in a decline o f the gross do mest ic product of the country.Furthermore,directors and civil servants had different perceptions o f corruption.The study found that,while directors argue that corruption emanates fro m the structures of the inst itution and it inevitably causes individuals to engage in such acts,civil servants were o f the view that corruption is a ratio nal cho ice.This research focused on how civil servants feel about corruption in the Ghana civil service and suggested concrete ant i-corruption strategies and po licies to help reduce corruption in the Ghana civil service headquarters.This study concludes that in assessing percept ions of civil servants,evidence fro m the study showed that corruption in the Ghana civil service is so deteriorat ing that the inst itution is not taken seriously.Even though individual levels do vary and the condit io ns surrounding one’s opinio n may affect evaluat ions,the study concludes that the restructuring o f the Ghana civil service with key ant i-corruptio n policies outlined in this study will help curb corruptio n in the inst itutio n since it’s the engine of all government inst itutions in Ghana.