The Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC) has called on the government and stakeholders to make corruption a high-risk venture to deter people from venturing into it.
Mrs. Beauty Emefa Narteh, the Executive Secretary of the GACC, who made the call, said making corruption a high-risk venture would serve as a deterrent for people to shy away from corrupt practices.
Mrs. Narteh emphasised that if corruption was a lucrative venture, people would willingly go out and engage in it.
She said this in an engagement with the Ghana News Agency as part of the project “Is the fight against corruption a mirage or reality?” and share perspective on the GACC project dubbed: “Building Evidence for Increased Accountability in Ghana through a Multi-Stakeholder Accountability Initiative.”
It was to commemorate District-Level Africa Union (AU) Anti-Corruption Day, which is slated for July 11, a day set aside by the AU to recognise the progress made and cognizant of the need to reflect on approaches to end corruption.
She explained that GACC in collaboration with its Local Accountability Networks (LANets) with funding support from William and Flora Hewlett Foundation was commemorating the 2023 African Anti-Corruption Day in 31 districts across 14 regions in Ghana.
Mrs Narteh said this year’s African Union Anti-Corruption Day was centred on sensitizing and training the youth to increase their knowledge on corruption and their role against corruption.
It also seeks to harness public advocacy towards the International Anti-Corruption Day slated for December 9th. The event seeks to raise awareness of corruption and of the role of the Convention in combating and preventing it. The Convention entered into force in December 2005.
She said until all stakeholders committed to the fight against corruption, all efforts would amount to only scratching the surface of corruption instead of winning the fight against it.
“Fighting against corruption is not a slogan thing or a lip fight, as some of our leaders have been doing; rather, it takes leadership, commitment, and prosecution,” she added.
The GACC Executive Secretary said even though the National Anti-Corruption Action Plan (NACAP) 10-year implementation would end in 2024, it could not be said that Ghana has lived up to its objectives, even though some gains might have been made under it.
She described it as a shame that corruption has been normalized in Ghana, as the country has stayed below the 50 percent mark for a long time, an indication that corruption is no longer a big deal to the people.
Mrs. Narteh again said that when the Corruption Perception Index, and Afrobarometer reports were published on corruption in the country, they were often rubbished as being only perceptions rather than actuals.
She said, however, that the survey on actual perception by the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) published in 2022, and an Experience Survey conducted by her outfit in 2017 all pointed to the fact that corruption was highly endemic in the country.
Source: GNA