CHRAJ Commissioner interacting with journalists at the launch
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.
By Issah Mohammed
The post ‘Appreciation Culture’ Impedes Corruption Fight appeared first on DailyGuide Network.
