Corruption in Ghana will continue if culprits go unpunished - GII Consortium
6 August 2015
Ms Seyram Agbemenya, Senior Programmes and Research Officer of the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) has stated that corruption would continue to increase in the country if culprits were allowed to ‘bull-doze’ their way without any punishment.
Ms Agbemenya made the statement at a day’s sensitization workshop on the ‘Mandate of Anti-Corruption Institutions in Ghana’, organised for 70 stakeholders from the Nkoranza North District on Thursday at Busunya in the Brong-Ahafo Region.
It formed part of the Accountable Democratic Institutions and Systems Strengthening (ADISS) Project of the GII and sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Ms Agbemenya disclosed that a research conducted by the GII in 2013 revealed that corruption was on the ascendancy in some institutions and departments in the country.
According to her, 80 per cent of people contacted through the research confirmed having paid a bribe to the Police while 40 per cent also said they had ever paid a bribe to officials of the Ghana Education Service (GES).
Twenty percent of people also reported having bribed some officials in the Ghana Health Service (GHS) for medical care, Ms Agbemenya added.
She therefore urged the general public to develop voluntary spirit and a show of patriotism to offer selfless and dedicated services to help make Ghana a haven for posterity.
Ms Agbemenya appealed to Ghanaians to desist from putting pressure on politicians and people in Authority for financial support and other forms of assistance, saying such demands and approaches caused them to become corrupt.
The Nkoranza North District Police Commander, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), Mr. Ambrose Aboagye hinted that the Police Administration had taken a number of measures to expel the undesirable personnel within the Police Service.
Mr. Emmanuel Ansah, Nkoranza North District Director of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) commended the GII for the launch of its education campaign against bribery and corruption to promote self-discipline, transparency and accountability among Ghanaians.
Meanwhile, the Nkoranza North District has formed a 15-member Social Auditing Club to carry out educational campaign in the communities, with Mr. Kwame Baffoe-Adjei, a News Reader at the Nkoranza Akyeaa FM Radio Station as Chairman.
GNA
