The Effect of Bribery and Corruption on the Youth of Ghana

 
GYD Scholarship winner Akorli Edem Wisdom and PCV Mike Sexton in Abor, Volta Region

The Effect of Bribery and Corruption on the Youth of Ghana

by Akorli Edem Wisdom

                Bribery and corruption are used interchangeably to mean the offering of money to a person so as to influence his or her decisions about their work. These acts are preventing the country from developing since our resources are going to people they were not intended for. This problem is negatively affecting the youth of Ghana.

                Bribery and corruption has made it difficult for students who pass their examinations to get to the schools of their choice since their places have been sold to people who have bribed the administrators. The students who were displaced by corruption would have performed better than the ones who bribed the administration and this will in turn degrade the quality of education at the schools that permit this activity.

                Parents of the students are also facing the issue of not being employed for certain positions even though they are qualified because employers are expecting them to offer a bribe before they hire them. This has made it very difficult for parents to pay school fees which may cause some students to involve themselves in certain bad practices such as having sex for money or stealing in order to pay their fees.

                As the above forms of corruption become more frequent students are starting to practice bribery and corruption themselves. Some students will bribe their teachers in order to gain promotion to the next class. This happens when students do not perform well and are repeated for another academic year. Since they don’t want to be mocked by their colleagues they bribe their teachers or directors to promote them to the next class.

                To solve the problem of bribery and corruption, the following mechanisms could be put in place. As a first measure, poor parents could be vocationalised. For example, they could be employed to work on state farms in order to get money to pay the fees of their children. They can equally be given loans which accrue less interest to enable them to profitably engage in petty trading. Through this trading, they can pay the fees of their children and also pay off the loan without being overwhelmed by the interest.

                The government could form a committee that will arrest and jail corrupt people. This committee should have a common hotline number that will be known by everybody in the nation so that whenever the witness or are victimized by a case of bribery they can call the hotline to quickly respond.

                Lastly, there could be a law governing occupations in the country. For instance, there should be a law which states that any qualified person should be employed and this person will be checked by a particular committee to make sure he or she has all the qualifications. This will reduce the number of employers taking bribes to hire personnel.

                It is hoped that if the above actions are taken seriously, the rampant rate at which bribery and corruption occur will reduce and prevent the negative impact it is having on the youth of Ghana.