Response of communities to anti-corruption campaign refreshing

Kenneth Kponor, Volta Regional Director of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), has called on stakeholders to sustain its anti-corruption campaign, noting that the response of communities engaged was impressive.

He said the Commission’s engagements were attracting spirited commitment even with farming communities who, despite their schedule made time for dawn engagements.

The Director who was speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on the progress of the European Union-funded Accountability, Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption Programme (ARAP) in the Volta Region, said questions and inputs made by members of the various communities where engagements were held, showed their desire to join the fight and help root out corruption.

He said the public exhibited the desire to seize corruption by the horn and wrestle it to the ground, therefore stakeholders must ensure the campaigns were sustained beyond donor support.

Mr Kponor also said the Whistle Blowers Act seemed to ignite the passion of the people in exposing corruption, and that education on that must be made more available.

He also noted that the public seemed more concerned about alleged acts of corruption perpetrated by law enforcement officers particularly the police, and said there was the need to engage them more to bridge all gaps of mistrust.

The Director said drama proved very effective in appealing to the populace, combining entertainment and education, and needed to be incorporated more into sensitisation programming.

“So far we have reached out to all 18 districts on whistle blowing in collaboration with stakeholders including the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, the Police, and officers of the environmental and sanitation Department,” he said.

Mr Kponor called on stakeholders to support the campaign until people saw corruption as a “killer”.

“The youth must always be reminded that it did not pay to indulge in crime,” he added.

The 2019 ARAP campaign focuses on the Whistle Blowers Act, and also included an environmental and sanitation awareness component, which seek to get the citizenry to uphold proper sanitary practices.