Traditional leaders must make grounds slippery for corruption – CHRAJ

The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), has rallied the unalloyed support of all traditional and religious leaders to lead a strong and sustained advocacy that will make the grounds infertile for corruption to thrive.

According to the Commission, the fight against corruption would bear no fruit without the active participation of such honourable and revered institutions in raising awareness of its dangers, both in the public and private sectors.

Mr. Richard Quayson, Deputy Commissioner of CHRAJ made the remarks at a sensitisation forum for the Central Regional House of Chiefs on corruption reporting format to solicit their support for the National Anti-corruption Action Plan (NACAP) in Cape Coast.

It was organised under the auspices of the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), the local chapter of Transparency International, in collaboration with the Commission as part of the GII's Integrity, Mobilization, Participation, Accountability, Anti-corruption and Transparency (IMPACT) project to respond to corruption using NACAP.

Mr. Quayson said institutions should rededicate themselves in helping to fight against endemic corruption, by being resilient, determined and bold to report cases of corruption regardless of the calibre of people involve and save the huge resources lost to that.

This could be redirected into productive ventures to stimulate economic growth and prosperity for all, he added.

He also noted that the fight against corruption should not be directed against public institutions alone but also the private sector, rated as having high volumes of business operations and the largest employer in the country.

He urged the traditional and religious leaders to investigate and report incidents of corruption, expose corrupt officials and be resilient to raise public awareness about corruption, its causes, consequences and possible eradication.

They should not exclude themselves from the fight against corruption but use their platforms to rally support against endemic corruption that had eaten deep into the fabric of the Ghanaian society.

Mr. Theophilius Tetteh Tuwor, the Regional Director of the Commission, said to effectively play their watchdog roles, the Commission would continue to engage traditional rulers and periodically train them to sharpen their skills on principles and techniques of investigating, reporting and monitoring corruption trends to significantly reduce its occurrences.

In addition to that, the Commission would deliberately and consistently provide public anti-corruption messages, which encourages citizens to report breaches of regulations and procedures such as those relating to corruption.

The Regional Director told Ghanaians to hold duty bearers to task and not just elect them into office with the hope that they would only serve the public interest but take remedial action against defaulting officers.