The Municipal Immigration Commander for Ashaiman, Nii Ofoli Wilson, has urged the public to refrain from offering tips in order to access public services including getting passports, birth certificates, and driver's licenses.

Mr. Wilson was speaking at a community education forum in Ashaiman, organised by Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) to sensitize and inform residents of channels to report corrupt activities.

He indicated that the practice, which was coined to mean “protocol” on many occasions, did not render the service for which the tipping or bribery was paid.

Mr. Wilson revealed that aside from tips and bribery, people also used their family or social contacts to skip lines or gain quicker and better access to schools and hospitals.

The Immigration Commander associated the bad act with the attitudes of some Ghanaians who willingly gave out money without request when seeking public service, with intentions to strengthen social bonds.

“People should not encourage the practice so that it becomes normalized because everyone has an equal opportunity to be served. But in the minds of some, tipping is something that implies better service, which is very wrong.

“There’s no reason to pay your way through if indeed you’re qualified for any position or service,” he added.

Mr. Wilson said that as part of the solution to do away with the canker, the public must exercise patience and follow the due process even when the service providers deliberately delay them, which he indicated was better than trying to cut corners and having problems later.

He advised the public to avoid falling into traps where attitudes and beliefs about tipping lead to better service.

Mr. Wilson said it was important on the part of public institutions to have clear rules about the modalities of seeking services.