Corruption in Ghana

While a place of wonderful and joyous people, in Ghana corruption is a bureaucratic norm. I have heard many stories, but knowledge and experience is different. Unprepared for the three experiences this weekend, I failed when needed the most.  

On Saturday the police stopped our taxi, asked for the driver’s license, and handed the taxi driver a folded piece of paper. The taxi driver slipped 1 cidi ($1) into the paper and placed his license on top. The policeman returned the license and waved us along. My friend asked why the driver gave a cidi.  His response, “if you give a cidi, they let you go. If you do not, they will look and look until they find a complaint. So it is better to pay.”  Passionate and furious, the driver continued into a twenty minute rant. We missed the details but understood his anger. It was all curious, interesting, but distant from us. 

Sunday: Twice the police stopped my “adopted” family and me (4 white Americans), driving a borrowed vehicle. Bribe total=60 cidis ($60).

Illegitimately stopped, the police fabricated a law stating that the dotted middle line did not indicate passing allowed for the stretch of road where we passed.  Intimidation tactics started with the opening line “we must take you to court”, and followed up with constant inputs of “we will have to arrest you”. Then a choice: arrested or meet the super intendment (and pay the unspoken bribe). My host father did speak to the super intendant, and ended up paying all the money in his pocket. He later estimated it to equal 50 cidis.

 While Steve, driving, charmed the police with his smiles and polite acquiescence, I was silently furious. No problem if left alone, but T-R-O-U-B-L-E when noticed by the police and an interested colleague. They switched off, both took their turn to lean close to the window, leered, grabbed my arm, asked me where I lived and for my number. What I should have done: smiled charmingly, talked to them, given a false number, ask for them to let us go. What I did: yanked my arm free, ignored their request for my number, did not smile, and refused to agree that they were doing us a kindness. Savior of the day: the fourteen year old girl sitting next to me. When at the end the policeman asked if he should take Steve’s money I answered “you should do what is morally correct”, she smiled and said “you should take the money and let us go or just let us go” and so we did.  Note to future self: charmingly bow in the face of police corruption.

Twenty minutes later the process repeated. Less aggressive, a legitimate concern was identified (the borrowed car’s registration had expired the day before), and it only cost us 10 cidis. 


Adaptation is one of our greatest traits as humans. With preparation, experience, and knowledge on my side, I expect myself to do better next time. Next lesson to learn: the nuance of when to bend and when it is better to take a stand. Accepting corruption cannot be best all the time, but I am glad no one spent the night in a Ghanaian prison.