Chief of Staff reaffirms government’s commitment to fund anti-corruption strategy

Accra, Sept. 17 – Mr. Julius Debrah, Chief of Staff at the Presidency, has reaffirmed the government’s commitment to adequately fund and support anti-graft agencies and initiatives.

Speaking at a regional stakeholder engagement in Accra to finalise the new National Ethics and Anti-Corruption Strategy and Implementation Plan (NEACASIP), Mr. Debrah admitted that the previous National Anti-Corruption Action Plan (NACAP 2015–2024) suffered setbacks due to underfunding and weak political commitment.

He described corruption as the single greatest threat to President John Dramani Mahama‘s vision of building a resilient economy. Citing data from the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition, he revealed that Ghana loses about $3 billion annually to corruption—twice the country’s foreign direct investment inflow of $1.5 billion.

“This staggering loss deprives us of the very resources we need to build schools, hospitals, roads, and create decent jobs for our youth,” he said.

Mr. Debrah stressed that corruption prevention must be seen as a fundamental investment rather than a competing priority. He added that corruption erodes investor confidence, breeds inefficiency in state institutions, and undermines trust in Ghana’s democracy.

To address these challenges, he announced that the new NEACASIP will be placed directly under the Office of the President to ensure its implementation is prioritised and adequately resourced.

“Funding anti-corruption initiatives is not a cost but the surest way to safeguard our limited resources and optimise them for development,” he said, urging stakeholders to be candid and bold in shaping the new plan.

He further emphasised that ethics must become a national culture, not just a policy, and encouraged participants to produce a strategy that will be a “living tool” to transform governance rather than “another document on a shelf.”