Corruption cases reported is appalling- Anti-Corruption Campaigner

An anti-corruption Campaigner on Friday described attitudes of Ghanaians towards reporting corruption cases as appalling.

Ms Mary Addah, a Programme Manager of Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), a local Chapter of Transparency International, has therefore urged Ghanaians to collectively stand up against corruption by going to anti-corruption institutions to report cases.

Speaking at a public symposium organized by Citizens’ Movement against Corruption (CMaC) in Accra, she mentioned the consequences of corruption to include lack of development, poverty, widening of the gap between the poor and rich.

According to her, in instances where citizens have been up and doing, there had been accountability and transparency on the part of leaders.

She expressed regrets over the low number of corruption cases lodged since the promulgation of the Whistle Blowers Act in 2006.

Ms Addah noted that since 2006, less than 10 cases have been lodged following the enactment of the Whistle Blowers Act.

The Programmes Manager of GII noted that people often decline to report corrupt cases because they are of the view that less or no actions would be taken or they would be victimized.

Ms Addah was not happy with Ghana’s rating on the Corruption Index, pointing out that, whiles some countries were scoring 9.6 per cent out of 10; Ghana was only scoring four per cent.

This she said, indicated that some citizenry are happy in involving in corrupt acts, as some societies seem to hail persons engaged in corruption.

Also she said, incentives for corruption was high because the society entertains the acts of corruption hence allow people to act with impunity.

Ms Addah called for more education on corruption and transparency on the part of leadership from homes to the presidency.

She debunked the assertion that people turned to be corrupt as a result of the hard economic hardship currently facing the country.

According to her, people are corrupt due to greed and eroding of moral and ethics in the society.

Mr. Edem Senanu, Co–Chairman of CMaC, noted that, corruption had been termed as the abuse of entrusted power for personal gains.

Speaking on the topic: “Corruption and the Ghanaian citizen, an introspection.”

Mr Senanu noted that some Ghanaians condone corruption as soon as they are faced with challenges.

According to him, some citizenry has also created the environment for public officers to ask for bribes, adding that, currently some parents were training their children to proactively engage in corruption especially when it comes to admissions into schools.

Mr. Senanu noted that people’s survival should not be based on paying money for favors and urged all to work hard to attain success.

He said the country should rise by motivating vibrant citizens, who stamp out corruption, noting that, “our fore fathers fought at a higher price for Ghana’s democracy.”

The CMaC is a movement rallying support and unifying all efforts of the citizenry to fight corruption. It also seeks to serve as an alliance between civil society organizations and Private Sector to address corruption and its negative impact on national development.

To be inaugurated on August 21, this year, CMaC seeks to influence government to step up in its response to corruption issues in Ghana.