Editorial: Calm heads (not smokescreens) needed in anti-corruption fight

The nation’s democratic institutions are once again being tested at a moment when public confidence in their anti-corruption efforts hangs in the balance.

The furore surrounding the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) – from its handling of high-stakes investigations to controversy over the departure of former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta and, most recently, the detention of outspoken critic Martin Kpebu – has generated a climate thick with accusation, political calculation and public frustration.

Yet it is precisely at such moments that a call for calm heads becomes not a cliché but a civic necessity.

The demand for accountability is legitimate. So too is the scrutiny of an institution created specifically to restore credibility in the fight against graft. But the current discourse risks veering into the realm of political theatre, where the noise of partisanship threatens to drown out a far more important national priority – to wit, strengthening the long-term architecture for confronting corruption.

Ghana’s challenge is not the existence of disagreements or criticism, but the ease with which these episodes are weaponised to delegitimise institutions instead of reforming them.

The OSP may have erred in judgment with recent high-profile instances and the public is right to expect transparency, procedural firmness and results. Obviously, talks about an attempted assassination must not be treated lightly. It is refreshing to hear the swift response by the Ministry of Interior – but much more refreshing would be to see full transparency in this particular matter.

After all, institutions do not mature through fear of death or perpetual dismantling. They mature through scrutiny, review and measured correction.

We must all be wary about how quickly the debate has become personalised.

The focus on individuals – whether the Special Prosecutor, his critics, or those under investigation – has overshadowed the structural issues that have long plagued Ghana’s anti-corruption terrain: the fragmented enforcement, political interference, weak deterrence and inadequate resourcing. These are the real battles we must collectively be prepared to fight long after the headlines fade.

Calm does not mean silence. It means discipline, it means resisting the temptation to allow anger or political opportunism to dictate the national conversation. Ghana can neither afford to trivialise corruption nor to turn its anti-corruption bodies into tools of factional conflict. What the moment demands is collective steadiness, a commitment to institutional strengthening, civilian oversight and national focus.

The fight against corruption is bigger than any single controversy. Ghana must not lose sight of this.

 

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