Dead or alive: How non-payment of allowances is threatening the push to keep Ghana clean

Dead or alive: How non-payment of allowances is threatening the push to keep Ghana clean

When the local government ministry started the sanitation guards initiative in 2007, the goal was clear - to help make Ghana cleaner.  But as laudable as the idea is, a lot of the guards who have been recruited over the years have dropped out of the program managed by Zoomlion and many are considering exiting as well due to non-payment of allowances stated in their contracts.  The Fourth Estate's Elizabeth Abena Egyin and Edmond Boateng who spoke with some sanitation guards and municipal health officers join us on the podcast to tell us more about the why the guards have not been paid and the impact the non-payment of allowances is having on the work of the district and municipal health and environmental officers.

Why Ghana's Asset Declaration law is not fighting graft as intended

Article 286 of the 1992 constitution of Ghana requires public office holders to declare their assets and liabilities before they assume office. They are also required to do same at the end of every four years and at the end of their term of office. But enforcing this has been a challenge for several governments over the years.  Out of the current 276 Members of Parliament, 151 are yet to declare their assets and liabilities a year into their term. This number includes MPs who have been in parliament for over a decade.   In this episode of the podcast, Seth Bokpe who has been reporting on asset declaration in Ghana since 2022 for The Fourth Estate, joins us to explain why enforcement of this law is a challenge and who is responsible for ensuring public office holders are held accountable when they fail to declare their assets and liabilities.

'Medical Kalabule' probe: What the Committee missed

Shortly after the Fourth Estate released its documentary 'Medical Kalabule', the Health Minister formed a committee to investigate allegations made in the documentary. The committee's report indicted only one of the medical professionals named in the documentary for overcharging patients for surgical tools and recommended him for disciplinary action. Two other medical professional were exornerated.  The committee's report also indicated that “After careful examination of the evidence presented, the committee concluded that allegations of deliberate collusion, commonly known as medical kalabule, between doctors and suppliers could not be substantiated.”  In this episode of the podcast, Joojo Cobbinah who produced the Medical Kalabule documentary, walks us through the committee's report and reacts to its conclusion that the "allegations of deliberate collusion between doctors and suppliers could not be substantiated."

Sole-Sourcing for Big Push: The Gulf Between Promise and Delivery

Right at the start of his second term in office, President John Mahama pledged to eliminate sole-sourcing, suggesting a push for new legislation to end the practice of awarding public contracts without competitive bidding. It was a bold promise, framed as part of a broader effort to improve transparency and accountability in government procurement. But an investigation by The Fourth Estate suggests a gap between policy and practice. Looking closely at contracts under the government’s flagship Big Push infrastructure programme, reporters found that more than half were awarded through sole-sourcing — the very approach the President has vowed to abolish. The findings have already drawn attention at the highest level and sparked fresh questions about how major public projects are being executed. In this episode, The Fourth Estate editor Kwaku Krobea Asante breaks down the investigation, explains how the contracts were tracked, and reflects on what this means for procurement reform in Ghana.

Joojo Cobbinah and Edmund Boateng on investigating suspected killings in Ghana's Police custody

Typically, when someone dies under mysterious circumstances, the police launch an investigation to ascertain if it was a murder or accidental. But what happens when a person dies under questionable circumstances while in police detention? For the documentary Death in Detention: Suspected Killings in Ghana's Police Custody, Joojo Cobbinah and Edmund Boateng spoke with families of a number of people who died while in police custody. The police account of their deaths raised more questions than answers for the families who are demanding justice for their relatives.  In this episode of the podcast, we sit with Joojo and Edmund to find out what motivated them to work on this story, the challenges they encountered while working on the documentary, and ask what next in terms of accountability as the Police are yet to respond to a right to information request sent to them by the Fourth Estate.