Don’t be doubtful we can fight corruption - Adviser

Mr Daniel Batidam, Adviser on Governance at the Office of the President, has asked Ghanaians not to be skeptical that government could fight corruption.

He said government was ever ready to fight corruption but it needed the backing of faith-based organisations and individual co-operation and complement to fight it.

Mr Batidam said this in an engagement with leaders of faith-based organisations at a forum organised in Wa by the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) to discuss the 10-year National Anti-Corruption Action Plan (NACAP) document.

The document has four strategic objectives, namely: to build public capacity, condemn and fight corruption; institutionalise efficiency, integrity, accountability and transparency in Ghana.

The others are to engage individuals, media and civil society in reporting and combating corruption and to conduct effective investigations and prosecution of corrupt conduct.

Mr Batidam admitted that government had more responsibility to fight corruption but that did not also mean Ghanaians should place the issues of corruption on the shoulders of government alone.

“All Ghanaians have a responsibility to help, especially religious leaders, because it is a sin. Individuals can make the difference by changing their lifestyles and avoiding corrupt practices in whatever endeavours they found themselves,” he said.

Mr Batidam said less corruption practices in the public and private sectors would help bring about more development in Ghana and called on the citizenry to stand firm to fight it.

He said everyone in Ghana today was a victim of corruption and that the onus lay on Ghanaians to uproot it.

He pleaded with churches and other faith-based organisations to help change the wrong attitude of Ghanaians towards the nation by imbedding in them integrity, honesty and patriotism as well as the fear of God to say no to corruption.

Mr Richard Quayson, Deputy Commissioner of the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice, (CHRAJ), urged Ghanaians to learn to do things on ethical lines for the youth to emulate.

He pointed out that the youth of Ghana had been exposed to corruption at tender ages.

“We taught the youth to tell lies and they also observe how we tell them to tell lies on our behalf. We even bring them up in manners that make them smarter in cheating other people,” he said.

Mr Quayson said the 10- year NACAP, was therefore developed to help Ghanaians win the war against corruption.

He said in the past, the fight against corruption was to investigate and punish people found to be corrupt but that had not deterred people from indulging in corrupt practices.

He suggested that the best way to help reduce corruption was to close the loopholes and develop measures to detect corrupt practices earlier to prevent it from occurring.

The forum introduced the NACAP to the participants, discuss the role of faith- based organisations in the implementation of the document, and forge strategic partnership with them to wage vigorous campaign against corruption and enhance integrity of members.