The Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC) has urged citizens to abhor all acts of corruption and report same to anti-corruption institutions for action.
The Coalition, through Ms Dorcas Affum Tenkorang, its Assistant Programmes Officer, stressed the need for citizens to resist, reject and immediately report acts of corruption for redress.
“When you see something, say something. Citizens must resist, reject and report corruption. It is the only way Ghana can win the fight against corruption,” she said.
Ms Tenkorang gave the advice in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) after a day’s forum at Bolgatanga on the mandate of the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) adding that “We want to create awareness for people to appreciate the OSP.”
The forum focused on the OSP’s law and related anti-corruption frameworks, which formed part of the GACC’s public education campaign under the project, “Strengthening the rule of law and the fight against corruption.”
The two-year project is being funded by the European Union, Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, and the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs and implemented in Ghana by the GIZ in partnership with the Ministry of Finance.
It is rolled out in 60 Districts across the country, and the beneficiary Districts in the Upper East Region include the Nabdam, Bongo, Kassena-Nankana West Districts, Bolgatanga and Kassena-Nankana Municipalities.
The forum afforded participants the opportunity to contribute to ongoing efforts to enhance transparency, accountability and citizen participation in the fight against corruption.
The participants included traditional leaders, officials from the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), the National Commission for Civic Education, the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), the Ghana Federation of Disability Organisations, the Ghana Police Service among others.
Ms Tenkorang said the OSP was an independent and specialised body set up to help Ghana in the fight against corruption, and that the forum was to complement the work of other anti-corruption institutions such as CHRAJ, EOCO among others.
“It is our expectation that citizens will understand what the OSP does, and to also increase the reporting of corruption cases. As part of this project, one of our objectives is to enhance the use of digitalisation when it comes to reporting corruption.
“We want to increase the rate at which people are reporting corruption, and increase the trust that people have in these institutions and remind citizens that they can report corruption in the comfort of their homes without walking into these institutions,” she said.
Ms Tenkorang said citizens had the option to report acts of corruption anonymously or with their details noting that, “We believe that when citizens understand this, they will have the confidence and the courage to report corruption without fear of intimidation.”
Some participants who spoke to the GNA after the programme, commended the GACC and its sponsors for the initiative to engage citizens on the mandate of the OSP.
Mr Augustine Akugri, the Deputy Regional Director of the NCCE, who participated in the forum, said the fight against corruption could not be left solely to the anti-corruption institutions, and called for concerted efforts.
Source: GNA
The post GACC urges citizens to resist, reject and report corruption appeared first on Ghana Business News.
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