Former Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly Chief Executive Samuel Pyne has joined growing calls for accountability in Ghana, describing corruption as the country’s most stubborn challenge since independence, in an interview broadcast on AsaasePa FM.
Speaking to mark Ghana’s 69th Independence Day on March 6, Pyne argued that despite decades of self-governance, dishonest practices have continued to drain state resources while ordinary citizens bear the consequences of mismanaged public funds.
Pyne was unambiguous about his own conduct, stating that he would not divert government funds for personal benefit when those resources could reduce the country’s debt or finance development. “I will never take money from the coffers of the government to spend on myself whilst the money can be used to pay our debt and also use some for development,” he said.
The former mayor traced Ghana’s corruption problem to the administration of founding President Kwame Nkrumah, contending that the country has since lost billions of dollars annually to dishonest conduct in public life. He described the damage as not only financial but also moral and social, eroding public trust in governance institutions.
Pyne warned that unless leaders and citizens fundamentally change their behaviour, Ghana will continue to underperform economically regardless of its resource endowment. He called for accountability and transparency to become the defining values of public service. “Corruption started from Kwame Nkrumah’s time; several billion dollars are lost by the country each year, whilst the country suffers. We need to amend our ways,” he said.
His remarks form part of a broader Independence Day conversation on governance standards, with President John Dramani Mahama and former President John Agyekum Kufuor also making corruption the centrepiece of their commemorative messages on the same occasion.
