GII lobbies faith based organisations to propagate NACAP

Anti corruption body the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) is taking frantic steps to robe in religious leaders to help disseminate the National Anti Corruption Action Plan (NACAP) to its congregants

The move is to expose religious leaders to the contents of the 10 year national anti-corruption action plan NACAP and the roles they are to play to rid the country of the scourge of corruption which appears to have permeated every sphere of the country.

The local chapter of Transparency International laments that knowledge about the document which is expected to galvanize a joint action on the fight against corruption; remains abysmally low.

In a sensitization program held in the Ashanti regional capital Kumasi to draft religious leaders into the anti graft campaign, it turned out that just a negligible few leaders had knowledge about the National Anti Corruption Action Plan which was passed by parliament in the year 2015.

Even though Ghana inched one point up in the 2018 Transparency International Anti Corruption Perception Index; extortion, bribery, abuse of public office for personal gains, kick backs and the infamous 10% contract facilitation payment, continues to fester in service delivery in the country.

Programs Manager of the Ghana Integrity Initiative Mr. Jacob Tetteh Ahunu told Ultimate News, the situation is alarming as the ten year plan is clocking its 5th year with little impact on reducing the spate of bribery and corruption in public and private service.

Mr Ahunu Lamented, “This document which Ghanaians have adopted and decided to implement to fight corruption started way back 2015 and we are in 2019. Four years down the line and a lot of people are still not aware of NACAP. They don’t know what NACAP is; they have not seen the document before,”

“We need to do more about the education especially when NACAB talks about each and every one’s role and we believe if the churches and mosques are sending the anti corruption message, we are getting almost all Ghanaians to hear about NACAP. Then we can take the next step to see if reporting will increase and if sanctions will also increase,” he went on.

The Ashanti Regional Minister Simon Osei Mensah who graced the occasion underscored the cardinal role the religious sects in the country could play in preaching the message of integrity across all spheres of the Ghanaians society.

He however insisted that the religious leaders will have to first purge themselves of corrupt elements to stand as worthy advocates for a corruption free society.

Mr Osei Mensah told reporter Ivan Heathcote – Fumador, “religious groups preach discipline and integrity but I will not say that they are a hundred percent corruption free. You will find some new breed of church leaders who sell holy water and all sorts of things. Several people are dying at a result of the actions of these pastors and these are  acts of corruption which need to be

Heeding the charge, the chairperson of the Kumasi Council of Christian Churches, Dr Bishop Comfort Adu pointed out that the Christian faith already contains the tenets for living an untarnished lifestyle.

She explained, “In fighting against corruption, the church has a focus to cause a life change in the lifestyles of individuals that their lives will be like what Christ asked us to emulate.”

The Executive Secretary of the office of the Ashanti Regional Chief Imam Ustaz Ahmed Seidu however insists the teachings against corruption will only be relevant to their followers if officials in public service will offer services without demanding bribes.

He observed that, “unless you give out money you may not be able to get what you want. If you want to make a passport, if you go to the driver vehicle licensing authority and even in our airports some officers will be demanding money and it is a canker in our societies. We all know what is good and bad but we have to get our way out of things.”

The campaign is being held under the tag line speak up, reject corruption and report corruption.

It aims at increasing by forty percent the tendency for Ghanaians to report acts of corruption for investigation and prosecution.

By:Ghana/Ultimatefmonline.com/106.9FM/Ivan Heathcote – Fumador / Mary Akosua Atakora

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