The UK and Ireland Branch of the Convention People's Party (CPP) has said corruption is a top issue for Ghanaians and expressed regret that President John Agyekum Kufuor did not focus on it "sufficiently" in Thursday's State of the Nation address to Parliament.
The CPP noted in a statement issued on Friday that the President announced that the Attorney General's Department had set up an Anti-Corruption Unit to study the recommendations of the Public Accounts Committee.
However, it said, "many who have witnessed the arrogant corruption of the NPP years feel this is not enough and remain to be convinced about NPP's commitment on tackling corruption".
"Ghanaians know first hand the effects of corruption and know that all the efforts and strides that the country seeks to make on the development front in education, health, jobs etc were undermined and devalued by corruption," it said.
The CPP said the government needed to understand the nature of corruption and its effects on society and it was worth reminding government about the different forms of corruption and how they affected ordinary Ghanaians and Ghana's development.
"Corruption is when government officials use their governmental powers for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, like repression of political opponents or failure to solve killings of political opponents such as the murder of the Northern Regional Chairman of the CPP - Alhaji Mobila."
It listed several forms of corruption and said they posed a serious development challenge.
"In the political realm, it undermines democracy and good governance, in the judiciary compromises the rule of law; and corruption in public administration results in the unfair provision of services.
"In elections and in legislative bodies it reduces accountability and distorts representation in policymaking; more generally, corruption erodes the institutional capacity of government as resources are siphoned off, and public offices are bought and sold. At the same time, corruption undermines the legitimacy of government and such democratic values as trust and tolerance."
The CPP said corruption undermined economic development by generating considerable distortions and inefficiency.
"In the private sector, corruption increases the cost of business through the price of illicit payments, the management cost of negotiating with officials, and the risk of breached agreements or detection."
The CPP said the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals was at risk unless corruption was tackled as an integral part of poverty reduction strategies.
".The NPP government must understand that, it has failed to focus on corruption and tackle it with the seriousness needed.
"It has failed in its' zero tolerance on corruption agenda, but above all it should understand that all our efforts at development as a nation is devalued by corruption and thus in our view the State of the Nation address should start with progress on the anti-corruption drive."