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‘Appreciation culture’ impedes corruption fight

General News of Thursday, 5 December 2019

Source: Dailyguidenetwork.com

2019-12-05

CHRAJ boss, Joseph WhittalCHRAJ boss, Joseph Whittal

The Head of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Joseph Whittal, has said the thinking that it is normal for a person to show appreciation to somebody in the performance of his or her official duties is the reason why the fight against corruption continues to be difficult.

“It will take time for us to come to the understanding that you don’t owe anyone any kickback. As a lady, you don’t owe anybody any favour for giving you a job. We need to confront these issues,” he said.

The CHRAJ boss made the remarks in an interview on Monday in Accra at the launch of the 2019 edition of the Anti-corruption and Transparency Week, which seeks to raise awareness on the menace of corruption on Ghana’s development.

Held under the theme: “NACAP, Mobilizing National Efforts and Resources to Combat Corruption; Five Years On”, the week will be marked with a series of activities aimed at creating discussion platforms across districts and regions to assess the implementation progress of Ghana’s anti-corruption policy known as the National Anti-Corruption Action Plan (NACAP).

The policy was adopted by Parliament on July 3, 2014 to fight corruption through the promotion of integrity, high ethics and vigorous enforcement of laws between 2015 and 2024.

Some scheduled activities for the week include a forum on money laundering and recovery of assets, youth forum on integrity, national conference on international anti-corruption day, as well as a forum on international human rights day.

Present at the launch was the Ambassador of Ghana to France, Anna Bossman, who commended NACAP’s strategy which has contributed to the passing and adoption of anti-corruption legislations and policies that have strengthened the architecture to fight corruption in the country.

She urged stakeholders not to rest on their laurels but work hard at ensuring that there exist strong and independent institutions that are well resourced and manned by persons with strong morals and character.

Ms. Bossman, however, said the lack of enforcement of existing laws, refusal to sanction culprits and act of rewarding bad behaviours through the transfer or promotion of indicted persons had been the bane of the country’s existence as such acts tend to negatively affect public trust of state institutions.

Maria Luisa Troncoso, Head of Governance and Civil Society (GCS) section of EU Delegation to Ghana who spoke on behalf of EU Ambassador to Ghana, Diana Acconcia, said that corruption stands to threaten the ‘Ghana beyond Aid’ agenda as corruption stifles growth, creates a non-conducive environment for investment.

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