Religious bodies urged to do more to eradicate corruption

The Rev Dr. Abamfo Ofori Atiemo, a senior lecturer at the University of Ghana, has appealed to religious bodies to take measures to eradicate corruption.

He said religious bodies were expected to transform society into a better place where there is of high integrity and justice.

Rev. Dr Atiemo, a minister of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, said this at the 6th annual interfaith symposium organized by the Presbyterian Interfaith Research and Resource Centre (PIRRC) at the Ebenezer Presbyterian Church at Osu.

The symposium was on the general theme: Promoting justice and integrity: a clarion call on people of faith.

Rev. Dr Atiemo said: It is difficult to link-up the dichotomy, Ghana a country with about 95 per cent of its population claiming/belonging to religious faiths but at the same time our society is plagued with corruption.

Too much corruption in an ocean of religiosity must be an issue of concern as these religious bodies are behaving like clouds that gathers but disperses without rainfall.

Rev. Atiemo said the spate of corruption and other social vices in the country was a clear manifestation that integrity and justice were lost.

He therefore urged religious institutions to put pressure on the government and law enforcement agencies to have the political will to prosecute people who defraud the nation.

Strong arm for enforcement ofanti-corruption laws is what we as nations need to eradicate corruption in thecountry, he said.

Mrs. Marietta Brew Appiah-Oppong, Minister of Justice and Attorney General, said the democratic principles of Ghana as a nation hinged on justice, probity, accountability, and integrity.

She said the fallen standards in the nations civil life and corruption as a global phenomenon should be done away with since it delayed economic growth and development.

She said bilateral or international donors were driven away since corruption led to a general mistrust of the country and therefore it was important that the entire nation do away with corruption as much as possible.

Corruption as global phenomenon has a damaging and long term effect on every nation in terms of development and it is much detrimental to poor nations than it is to developed countries in terms of economic growth, the minister said.

Mrs Appiah-Oppong said the Ministry was adopting reforms to make legal services more accessible to all persons.

She said the Justice Ministry was collaborating with the Communication Ministry to undertake a $5 million-dollar E-Justice project which is being funded by the World Bank.

Alhaji Maulvi Mohammed Bin Salih, Ameer and Missionary in Charge of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission Ghana, advised parents and institutional leaders to serve as good and anti-corruption leaders so that they could move their children and followers in the same direction.