GES holds forum on computer fraud

Accra, June 9, GNA - Mr James Nii Okaija Dinsey, Accra Metropolitan Director of Education, on Tuesday called on Ghanaians to condemn the phenomenon of computer fraud popularly called "sakawa". He noted that "sakawa" is likely to put the future of the nation in jeopardy.

Mr Dinsey made the call in Accra, when he opened a computer fraud sensitization programme for eight Junior High School students in the Metropolis. He said Ghana risked a situation where real power would not lie in the hands of democratically elected and honest people, but crime lords who would dent the nation's reputation. Mr Dinsey said the rate at which school children were abandoning their classrooms to get involve in this act was becoming alarming and must be controlled. He appealed to teachers, parents, traditional, religious and opinion leaders to rise up and fight the menace before it destroyed the youth. "Let us remind our young people that it pays to be morally upright. Discipline and hard work should be the hallmark for acquiring wealth," he said.

Mr Dinsey asked the teachers to intensify their supervision and monitoring of school children through frequent roll calls and at short intervals especially after break periods. He appealed to parents and guardians to enquire about properties acquired by their wards. Mrs Vivian Adjo Tetteh, an educationist and Information, Communications and Technology expert, said cyber fraud was a criminal act and must be discourage among the youth, adding that such wealth do not last and the end results are very disastrous. She said it was a challenge to everybody that: "We must all be vigilant and find a lasting solution. and instil in our youth moral values that are acceptable by our society." 09 June 09