CORRUPTION ENDEMIC IN GHANA — PARTICIPANTS (PAGE 16)

Participants at a round-table seminar on corruption have said unless members of the public were bold to report on corruption related issues, there was no way it could be minimised or eliminated from the country.
According to them, the Ghanaian society had now become so endemic with corruption that one had to offer money, material or their bodies in the case of young women before being offered any form of assistance.
The seminar which was held at Koforidua last Monday was organised by the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) in collaboration with the National Catholic Secretariat, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission and the Christian Council.
It was attended by about 50 participants made up of Christian leaders and the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission in the Eastern Region.
The participants said corruption was now synonymous with the Ghanaian society and unless people were bold to point out corrupt officials, there was no way it could be eliminated or minimised from the system.
Setting the ball rolling for the discussions, a member of the Council of State, Nana Owusu Gyamadu III, said it was unfortunate that almost every person in the country had to pay bribe before being assisted, a situation he said was negatively affecting the country’s development.
“People are bribed on enstoolment, destoolment, employment, admissions to schools, colleges and tertiary institutions, contracts and even for the transfer of reverend ministers and the best way to fight the canker is to boldly report those involved,” Nana Gyamadu stated.
He called on all especially, the participants, to use the word of God to help minimise it.
For his part, the Executive Secretary of the GII, Mr Vitus A. Azeem, said corruption was impeding Ghana’s economic growth and that his outfit would continue to organise similar seminars to create the awareness on the canker as a way of eliminating it from society.
He said although the fight against corruption would not be easy, he was hopeful that the high rate of corruption would reduce in due course.
He called on religious leaders to join the crusade against the canker.
The Project Support Officer of GII, Mrs Sandra Gakson, said apart from hosting workshops on corruption, her outfit had also been carrying out periodic social auditing on the canker.
The Very Rev. J.K.B Appiah-Acheampong, Supt Minister of the Methodist Church in charge of Mampong-Akuapem, chaired the function.