General News of Wednesday, 16 October 2019

Source: ghananewsagency.org

Corruption fight must be devoid of politicization – FoFCAC

File photo File photo

The Forum for Christians Against Corruption (FoFCAC) has called for a more preventive approach to the fight against corruption, devoid of politicization, to minimize its effect on society.

Reverend Dr Kojo Osei-Wusu, Former President of the Ghana Baptist Convention, said corruption had been a serious developmental problem for Ghana, since independence, which had become more serious because of its politicization.

“Instead of successive governments of both sides of the political divide focusing on fighting the canker, a vigorous competition in allegations of corruption against each other is what has become the order of the day.”

“It is, therefore, not surprising the fight is not making the desired impact and this has become a great concern to all well-meaning Ghanaians committed to the fight,” he was quoted in a statement signed and copied to the Ghana News Agency as saying.

Rev. Dr Osei-Wusu called on all politicians to spare the citizens of the provocative behaviour and deal with the issue head-on to bring it under control.

“In our opinion as an organisation, the current government has done more than previous governments in the fight against corruption through relevant policies and reforms.”

Though the impact fell below expectation, the organization was hopeful that more would be done with the help of the Office of the Special Prosecutor, Right to Information Bill and creation of special courts solely for corruption cases to ensure speedy trial.

He said convicts must be made to engage in community service to serve as a deterrent whilst improving the lot of those communities.

Rev Dr Osei-Wusu called on the Ministry of Education to extend the fight through the school system from the primary to the tertiary levels.

“There should be a mass national campaign against it by using posters, role plays, songs, and jingles,” he said, and called on the Ministry of information and the National Commission for Civic Education to lead the campaign.

He urged government to increase the fight in a more urgent and relentless manner to defeat the canker and called on the public to support to achieve the desired results.