Include Civic and Moral education in School Curricula

Stakeholders at a Citizen Participation in Local Governance workshop held at Zebilla in the Bawku West District have underscored the need for Civic, Moral and Religious education to be included in the School curricular to help fight corruption.

The Stakeholders made up of traditional authorities, heads of decentralized departments, the security agencies, the physically challenged and traders, among others, who were of the view that corruption had eaten deeply into the moral fibre of society proposed that, to help tackle the root causes of the canker, there was the need to introduce Civic, Moral and Religious education into the School curricular right from the basic to Senior High Schools.

The stakeholders, who lamented that corruption, had led to the depletion of natural resources, political instability, low productivity and threat to national security, also proposed instant sanctions to deal with those involved in corruption.

Other suggestion made by the stakeholders included, ensuring that victims and witnesses of corruption report to the appropriate authorities such as CHARAJ, Advice and legal Unit of the Ghana Integrity Initiatives, among others.

The Stakeholders called for a reward system and special protection to be instituted for those who report corrupt people to law enforcement agencies.

They said the lack of effective supervision of funds, budgets and projects leads to corruption and blamed the law enforcement agencies, particularly the police and the Judiciary, for not living up to expectation and frustrating the system of justice.

The Programmes Manager of the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), Local Chapter of Transparency International, Ms Mary Awelana Addah, said the training programme under the theme, “Citizens Participation in Local Governance: A Tool for Strengthening Transparency and Accountability” was being implemented in some selected Districts in the country with the ultimate aim to empower the citizenry to demand accountability and transparency from duty bearers.

She expressed the hope that the project, being sponsored by the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) and implemented by her outfit and the National Commission for Civic Education would help improve the governance system at the local level as well as help curb corruption.

She entreated the Bawku West Social Audit Club, which had been assigned with the role of checking on public spending, project execution and performances of duty bearers, to work assiduously to help the District to make a significant impact.

The District Coordinating Director of the Bawku West District Assembly, Mr David P Nar-ire, who delivered a speech for the District Chief Executive, Mr Simon Ayande Agbango, pledged the Assembly’s support to club members to help perform their duties effectively.