The corruption that is depicted in Ghana is one that filters into every aspect of being.  Nothing can be done without corruption and graft. This condition stings even more seeing that it has become the state of post- Colonial Ghana.  There is no difference between the White foreigners and this new corrupt government for regular Ghanaians, such as the protagonist.  While the government purports to be Socialist and representative of the people, the corrosive element within it and within its social setting is one whereby there is really no difference between what was and what is.  

Corruption is shown to be both an existential reality that embraces Ghana, but also a fact of daily life.  The man experiences a pain of being because of his refusal to accept corruption.  The state of corruption is so pervasive in Ghana that people who refuse it suffer. Those who accept it enjoy life and are able to experience its better aspects of it.  In this, corruption has become the Status Quo.  Those who seek to repel it, who seek to do that which is right, suffer more. The man comes to this realization at the end of the novel, confirming that what can be "beautyful" is not able to be born. Corruption in Ghana has reached such a point that beauty itself is held hostage.