John B. Ninson
Organised groups charged with the responsibility for Anti-corruption activities in the Country have been urged not to initiate action before issues get out of hand.
Mr. John B. Ninson, Effutu Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) made the call when he met officials of Ghana Integrity initiative (GII), Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC) and members of the Local Accountability Net-work (LANET) at Winneba.
The meeting afforded both the Assembly and the Groups, the opportunity to discuss matters to facilitate the initiation of projects and programmes for citizens in the Municipality.
It was also to formalise the operations of LANET by initiating processes for the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Effutu Municipal Assembly.
Addressing the meeting Mr Ninson applauded the good work of LENAT over the years that had facilitated the smooth operations of the Assembly and urged them to do more.
The MCE however, advised officials of Anti-Corruption groups to ensure that they started their monitoring operations of projects and other activities right from the onset and not to wait until the completion before investigations on them.
This he said would go a long way to help detect shoddy work by contractors at the early stages for prompt ratification.
Mr.Ninson urged Ghanaians not to allow corruption to take the nation to ransom, but buy into Ghana beyond Aid Agenda to help build the nation for posterity.
He called on all to get involved in the Anti-Corruption crusade in order to eliminate or reduce corrupt individuals and groups who intended to undermine the future of the nation.
In his contribution, Mr. Bright Sowu, Monitoring and Evolution (ME) Specialist for GII and GACC stressed the need for Effutu Municipal Assembly to deeply involve the Local Accountability Net-Work in their operations by giving the members all the support to ensure the success of their work.
In doing so, the Assembly must always ensure that they invited them to participate in all their activities (Assembly meetings, preparation of the annual action plan and budget) to enable the members to be fully abreast with what they do to devise the way forward.
Mr Sowu recounted, guidelines governing the Anti-Corruption Consortium, which were principally designed to empower citizens to make and pursue corruption-related complaints, provide legal advice and counsel to victims and witnesses of corruption.
The guidelines, he noted helped to set up a database on corruption in the country based on complaints received from the public and the data on complaints used to advocate greater structural and institutional changes.
Mr Kwasi Ghartey-Tagoe, Effutu Municipal Anti-Corruption Campaigner, expressed the group’s appreciation to the authorities of the Assembly for adhering to all the advice and suggestions given to it over the years.
This, he noted aided the successful implementation and the early rectification of development projects the Assembly executed.
He, therefore, called for more flexible interactions with the group to ensure proper and effective governance at the Assembly.
Mr Francis Romanus Arloo, Chairman of LANET who presided over the meeting called for lasting collaborations and understanding and hard work between the Assembly and the group for the benefit of the entire Effutuman.
