By: Ewoenam Kpodo | Voltaonlinegh.com |
Dressed in white t-shirts with the words, #Ghana says no to corruption and boldly written, “Corruption is stealing from Ghana” on both front and back of the of the t-shirts, Ghana anti-corruption campaigners on Saturday, went on a float through the principal streets of the Volta Regional capital, Ho.
The campaigners who already communicated enough just by way of their apparels, held placards with inscriptions including ” Corruption undermines the rule of law”, “Corruption creates poverty”, ” Corruption robs us all”, “Demand accountability from elected leaders”, ” Report corrupt practices ” in their march which ended at OLA SHS where participants were addressed by various speakers.
The march formed part of a week-long (December 3-9) activities outlined to mark the 2018 International Anti-Corruption Day (IACD) in all 10 regions across the country. IACD is marked every December 9 to mobilise citizens in the fight against corruption and to sensitise the public on its dangers.
Senior Research Officer, Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC), Bright Sowu called on Ghanaians to come together and with concerted efforts, fight canker which he said ” is robbing Ghana of her resources.”
According to him, the though the anti-corruption campaigners kept making some inroads in raising awareness on anti-corruption, “Ghana is losing the war on corruption.”
He therefore implored the citizenry to be concerned and in their individual ways, contribute to the fight by making a “bold declaration that seeks to resist, reject, report and punish corruption”
He also called on government to show its commitment to fighting the menace by passing the Right to Information Bill, and timely passage of key anti-corruption bills including Conduct of Public Officers Bill, Whistle blowers Amendment Bill and Companies Amendment Act and to ensure urgent passage Presidential assent to the recently passed Witness Protection Bill.
The Registrar, Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ)-Volta, Mr Eric Oduro Danso spoke of what acts constitute corruption calling on the participants not to focus on top politicians and some security agents as the only corrupt entities in the country but see it as something that almost every Ghanaian indulge in every day.
He spoke of petty ones such teachers taking chalks, pencils and learning materials to their wards at home, public servants asking from those requiring services to “buy them water to drink”, using official vehicles for private business, lying, among others as forms of corruption that must not be encouraged.
He called on the citizenry to report any form of corrupt practices to CHRAJ, the Commission mandated to deal with such issues for action, assuring that they Commission protects the identity of such whistle blowers.
A representative from the Volta Regional Coordinating Council, Prosper Afenyo asked the citizenry to invest their energy in reducing the spate of corruption as to him, corruption cannot be eradicated.
He explained that corruption, an age-old sin just like other sins, cannot be because humans are naturally sinful.
He called on everyone whether Christians or Muslims to see corruption as a sin against God that will go unpunished.
The Chief Budget Analyst therefore, appealed to all to get involved in making the practice enenemy to to discourage others from committing the act, thus, reducing incidents of corruption.
The event on Saturday also saw participation from officials from the VRCC and Ho Municipal Assembly, National Commission for Civic Education, security services, youth groups, among others who make up the Local Accountability Network (LANET), ably coordinated by VOICE-Ghana, a focal partner in the region and spearheaded by GACC with funding support from open society initiatives from West Africa.
Source: www.voltaonlinegh.com
