Fighting corruption is not about slogans — GACC

Fighting against corruption is not a slogan or a lip fight as some of our leaders have been doing rather it takes leadership, commitment, and prosecution, Mrs. Beauty Emefa Narteh, Executive Secretary of the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC), has revealed.

She noted that until all stakeholders were committed holistically to the fight against corruption, all efforts would amount to only scratching the surface of corruption instead of winning the fight against it.

Narteh said this in an engagement with the Ghana News Agency and shared perspectives on the GACC project dubbed “Building Evidence for Increased Accountability in Ghana through a Multi-Stakeholder Accountability Initiative.”

The GACC Executive Secretary said even though the National Anti-Corruption Action Plan (NACAP) 10-year implementation would end in 2024, it could not be said that Ghana had lived up to its objectives, even though some gains might have been made under it.

She described it as a shame that corruption had been normalized in Ghana, as the country has stayed below the 50 percent mark for a long time, an indication that corruption is no longer a big deal to some people.

Narteh again said that when the Corruption Perception Index and Afrobarometer reports were published on corruption in the country, they were often rubbished as being only perceptions rather than actuals.

She said, however, that the survey on actual perception by the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), published in 2022, and an Experience Survey conducted by GACC in 2017 all pointed to the fact that corruption was highly endemic in the country.

She called on the government and stakeholders to collectively make corruption a high-risk venture to deter people from venturing into it, but if it fails and becomes a lucrative venture, people will willingly go out and engage in it.

Samuel Harrison-Cudjoe, GACC Programmes Manager, in his contribution, tasked Ghanaian youth to personalise the impact of corruption and help fight against it.

Mr. Harrison-Cudjoe noted that the coalition’s focus was to help the youth understand the impact of corruption and how it affected them, as well as to get them involved in the anti-corruption drive.

He said by involving the youth in the drive, the coalition also aimed at popularising the African Union Anti-Corruption Group that was formed to fight corruption in Africa.

He said GACC celebrated this year’s AU anti-corruption day in July with a project on the theme: “Empowering Ghanaian Youth: GACC Commitment on AU Anti-Corruption Day” to gear towards creating informed and active citizens who will contribute to a corruption-free future for Ghana.

He added that the coalition targeted the young ones in the basic and senior high schools to imbibe in them the knowledge of fighting corruption in the country.

Harrison-Cudjoe said, “We want to train a generation that will come to appreciate the fight against corruption and recognise corruption when they see it.”

The District-Level Africa Union Anti-Corruption Day was celebrated on July 11 to recognize the vast progress that has been made and to be cognizant of the need to continually reflect on approaches to ending corruption.

The GACC, in collaboration with its Local Accountability Networks (LANets) and funding support from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, commemorated 2023 African Anti-Corruption Day in 31 districts across 14 regions in Ghana.