The
chief of Sentu in the Lambussie District in the Upper West Region, Naa Wilfred
Dapillah II, has stated that to win the corruption fight, then efforts against
the canker must not be targeted at politicians alone but rather everybody in
society.
He explained that even though politicians controlled a chunk of the nation’s
resources and could be associated with grand corruption, petty corruption by
the citizenry equally posed a higher threat to the growth and development as it
eroded the moral fibre of the country.
Naa Dapillah made the observation at a community durbar on public
accountability organised by the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE)
at Sentu in the Lambussie District of the Upper West Region on the theme: ‘Whistle
blowing mechanism and anti-corruption-The role of the citizenry.’
“Corruption is one of the major contributory factors of the country’s economic
woes as millions of Ghana Cedis is lost through embezzlement of public funds,
procurement malpractices among others, this is evident as the Commission on
Human Rights and Administrative Justice estimated that the nation loses GH¢ 3.5
billion every year through corruption.
“Corruption is inimical to the growth and development of the country, hence
the passage of the Whistleblowers’ Act (Act 720) to encourage the citizenry to
report suspected impropriety within their community or places of work, the Act
did not only provide for protection against victimisation of persons who made
disclosures, but also a 10 per cent reward of monies or properties retrieved as
a result of the whistleblowing.
“The willingness of the citizenry to report acts of corruption to relevant
bodies for investigation is the only way to help curb corruption in the country
and I will advice them not to relent on that role,” Naa Dapillah stressed.
Paul Kwame Ganvu, the Lambussie District
Director of NCCE, noted that participants at a regional focus group discussion
made certain proposals to ensure public accountability, probity, transparency
and good environmental governance.
“These include training the youth to help combat corruption in the country,
educating and sensitising the public on effective and efficient ways to ensure
good environmental governance, enacting of environmental governance by-laws and
exposing the public to anti-corruption agencies to promote reporting of
suspected corruption,” he intimated. -myjoyonline.com
