By Albert Futukpor, GNA
Tamale, Feb 27, GNA – Leadership of various religious and Faith Based Organizations (FBOs) in the Northern Region have called on the Government to muster the political will to prosecute cases of corruption to demonstrate the seriousness of the state to fight the canker.
They said the government should not shield any person involved in corruption but to rigidly enforce the laws to prosecute such persons and hand them punitive sanctions to send a strong signal to others that the state was ready and serious to fight corruption.
They stated this when making presentations at a sensitization forum on anti-corruption for leadership of FBOs and religious organizations amongst other stakeholders in Tamale on Wednesday to educate them on their roles in the fight against corruption in the country.
It was organized by the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) with support from DANIDA as part of its Interfaith Project, which seeks to elicit the support of religious leaders and FBOs amongst other stakeholders in raising awareness, reporting and addressing corruption as required under the National Anti-corruption Action Plan (NACAP).
The FBOs and religious organizations that took part in the forum included Catholic Church, 1st Baptist Church, Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Evangelical Church of Ghana, Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission, and Tijaniyya Muslim Council.
The religious and FBOs expressed displeasure at the fact that more often, people accused of corruption or engaged in corrupt acts did not face punitive sanctions saying this situation only encouraged others to engage in the practice.
Last year, the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice estimated that the country lose three billion dollars every year through corruption.
The participants, therefore, resolved to stand firm and preach the gospel to correct the ills of society.
They also agreed to form integrity clubs in their congregations to teach worshippers about corruption and its effects to help reduce and or stop the practice in society.
Reverend Jonas Nantomah, Head Pastor of First Baptist Church, Tamale urged all to purge themselves of party politics and focus on the national interest to have the will to speak against corruption at all levels of society.
Naa Alhaji Adam Ibn Alhassan, an Islamic Scholar and Chief of Janakpeng in the Nanton District called on all to join the fight against corruption because corruption was depriving the country of vital resources needed for development.
Alhaji Abdul Razak Saani, Northern Regional Director of National Commission for Civic Education reiterated that the fight against corruption should be the responsibility of all since corruption affected all calling for children to be trained to shun the practice to save the country in future.
Mr Okai Michael Henchard, Project Coordinator of GII said GII would work with the religious organizations to reach a lot more people with the message on fighting corruption to ensure success of NACAP.
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