By Anthony Apubeo, GNA
Bolgatanga, Oct. 2, GNA – The National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) has urged the youth to take up the mantle in the fight against corruption by being ambassadors of anti-corruption within their various jurisdictions.
Mr Pontius Pilate Baba Apaabey, the Upper East Regional Director of the Commission, was speaking during a sensitisation drive on public accountability and good environmental governance at the Bolgatanga Polytechnic.
He enjoined the students to serve as mouth pieces of their respective communities and boldly demand accountability on development projects from duty bearers so as to put the leaders on their toes.
Mr Jaladeen Abdulai, the Regional Director, Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), who schooled the students on the Whistle Blowers Act, Act 720, said corruption was deepening the poverty levels of people, especially those in the rural areas.
Without an end to corruption, the efforts being made to enable the country to attain the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) would be meaningless and fruitless and would only breed a country full of unending challenges and poverty, he said.
The Director indicated that there were so many laws and Acts in Ghana that could effectively fight and eradicate corruption and all its forms, however due to negative attitudes towards their implementation they had become only laws on paper but not in action.
Mr Jaladeen noted that unwillingness of people to report corrupt cases to the appropriate authorities also contributed to the difficulty in fighting the canker.
He said every citizen was enjoined by the 1992 Constitution to be responsible and that included demanding accountability from leaders, supervising development projects as well as reporting on misappropriation with regards to the management of public resources.
Mr Jaladeen, therefore, explained that the Whistle Blowers Act was meant to protect persons who fought corruption from victimization, while an award package was being established for people who reported corruption cases to the appropriate institutions for proper investigation and prosecution.
He mentioned CHRAJ, Attorney General, Office of the Special Prosecutor, National Media Commission, Ghana Police Service, Economic and Organised Crime Office, and traditional authorities among others as institutions that one could lodge a complaint on corruption.
The programme formed part of the Accountability, Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption Programme being funded by the European Union.
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