By Eric
K. Amoh, GNA
Bolgatanga, Sept. 27, GNA – Mr Richard Quayson, Deputy
Director, at the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice
(CHRAJ), has said that President’s vision for a “Ghana Beyond Aid” is a true
and achievable target if pragmatic measures are taken to tackle corruption in
the country holistically.
He said Ghana was estimated to be losing about
$3billion annually to corruption, yet its infrastructural deficit was so huge
that losses made to corruption in a year alone could bring the needed
development to the country.
Mr Quayson said these at a day’s public
sensitisation programme for key institutions including, officials of District
and Municipal Assemblies, Community Based Organisations, Civil Society
Organisations, the Security Agencies and the media drawn from the Upper East
Region.
The programme is an initiative of the National
Anti-Corruption Action Plan (NACAP) in collaboration with the Ghana Integrity
Initiative (GII) and the Ghana News Agency (GNA) serving as a media partner.
Mr Quayson acknowledged that indiscipline was
the main triggering element to corruption and said public service expenditure
was extremely over bloated creating a huge gap between realistic pricing and
costing in the infrastructure
development needs of the country.
He said corruption had become hospitable in
the Ghanaian society and indicated that the phenomenon had become so pervasive
that, Ghana would continue to be under developed no matter how much investment
the country makes in its desire to bring the necessary relief to the citizenry.
The Deputy Commissioner stated that
corruption, indiscipline, and lawlessness were at the cradle of the under
development that the country had experienced over the years and said “until we
resolve to change our attitudes towards our development by tackling corruption
in its entirety we will continue to struggle for the development we yearn for”.
He said as Ghanaians “we must not renege in
our duty. In the past we reneged on our duties and we are paying the price for
it”, adding that “if we accept that corruption threatens our being, then we
must take interest in fighting it”.
“There is high tolerance for corruption. We
have given corruption nice titles and giving it glorification and so the
problems linger on.” He added.
He said there is high tolerance for
corruption, which is eating into the fabric of society and reiterated “let us
agree that the anti-corruption fight is for all of us to do and not the
preserve of some selected institutions”.
He reminded the participants that corruption
was endemic throughout Africa and said “It is estimated that Africa losses
about$100 billion in corruption while the Economic Commission of Africa puts
the corruption index conservatively at $60 billion, yet it’s people are griped
in abject poverty”.
The Deputy Commissioner therefore called on
the participants to show interest in the response against corruption and help
tackle the canker in its entirety.
GNA