The government has been urged not only to focus its fight against corruption on only public officers but also the multinational companies engaged in corrupt deals.
Banking Consultant and Financial Analyst, Dr. Richmond Atuahene says some of these foreign-owned entities operating within the borders of Ghana are undermining the country’s effort against corruption through a number of nefarious acts.
These alleged corrupt acts of these foreign corporations rob the state of the needed revenues hence draining public finances and stifling fair competition.
In a document on how the next government can enhance its revenue mobilization by scrapping nuisance taxes, Dr. Atuahene observed that these multinationals perpetuate their corrupt deals by offering bribes to secure lucrative contracts and orders.
Former Auditor-General of Ghana, Daniel Domelevo had earlier made a similar observation alleging that these multinationals are also the major culprits of illicit financial flows through avenues such as transfer pricing. Yaw Domelevo asserted that the act is very prevalent in Ghana causing the state to lose a significant amount of resources in terms of taxes.
With illicit acts of some of these foreign companies being a major challenge to Ghana’s revenue potential, Dr. Richmond Atuahene is proposing a bold strategy to clamp down on these illegalities.
He is recommending a coordinated action between Ghana, and bilateral and international organizations to fight this menace. In addition, the financial analyst is also calling for the blacklisting of multinationals found culpable of dealing in corrupt acts.
Dr. Atuahene is convinced that by denying these coorrupt companies access to global markets and international contracts, by international organizations, this approach would hit them where it hurts most.
“A holistic approach, including prevention and enforcement, will have a much better chance of success than a simple focus on individuals. The problem of corruption needs to be checked at the international level as well particularly given the fact that multinational companies bribe officials of developing countries like Ghana to procure orders and contracts, a coordinated approach by bilateral donors and international organizations is useful,” he indicated.
He added that “an important step in this direction would be blacklisting by multinational organizations of multinational corporations that engage in corrupt practices to obtain international contracts and encourage corruption in developing countries like Ghana.”
On the local front, the banking consultant is calling for the classification of corruption as a national crime as done in countries like China, Singapore, South Korea, and Rwanda where there is zero tolerance for corruption.
The classification of corruption as a national crime, he believes the country will now see the act as a threat to national stability, economy, governance, and development and hence will come with the highest form of punishment including life imprisonment and the death penalty.
The financial analyst believes it is time to hold multinational corporations accountable for their role in perpetuating corruption. By designating corruption as a national crime and fostering international cooperation, Ghana can not only protect its resources and scrap obnoxious taxes.
