By Lawrencia Esi Annan, GNA
Sekondi, Sept. 13, GNA - Participants at a day's workshop organized by the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) in Sekondi have advocated that the relevant systems and institutions in the fight against corruption should be allowed to work.
They attributed the current high rate of corruption in the society to the inability of systems to work independently coupled with the lack of accountability on the part of leaders.
The workshop on the theme “Accountability and Environmental Governance” was sponsored by the European Union, and geared towards educating the public on Accountability, Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption Programme (ARAP).
The participants who were taken through topics such as Anti-Corruption Action Plan, Environmental Governance and Corruption, Enforcement of Corruption and Corruption and Service Delivery, noted that in order to rid the country of corruption, it was imperative for the citizenry to have an attitudinal and mental change by shunning corrupt acts and embracing what is right.
Madam Efua Yankson, the Deputy Chief Investigator for Commission of Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) who spoke on the linkage between corruption and human rights, explained that corruption was the misuse of entrusted power for private gains, citing bribery, embezzlement, misappropriation, abuse of office, laundering of proceeds of crime, illicit enrichment, conflict of interest, among others as corrupt acts.
She described human rights as basic rights which should be enjoyed by all humans and stressed that corruption could impact the enjoyment of human rights directly or indirectly, adding that corrupt acts fueled human rights violation.
She said for instance “if a waste management official is bribed to deposit waste in an authorized area, residents living in that area become exposed to filth and toxins affecting their health and wellbeing thereby a corrupt act indirectly infringed on the rights of the affected people".
She further said direct impact of corruption on human rights was when individuals were denied direct access to the enjoyment of human rights.
Mrs Yankson mentioned political corruption, judicial corruption, educational corruption, medical corruption among others as corrupt activities stopping individuals from enjoying what was rightfully due them.
The Deputy Director noted that CHRAJ as an institution to fight against corruption was mandated by the Constitution to investigate complaints and allegations of crimes in the public institutions, adding that the Whistle Blower Act 760 ( 2006) also charges them to investigate corruption and to address persons who were victimized due to the fact that they blew the whistle.
The Deputy Regional Director for NCCE, Mr Justice Yaw Anning, said the objective of ARAP was to promote good governance in Ghana by reducing corruption and improving accountability and compliance with the Rule of Law.
Mr Anning said children were the future human resource of the nation and as a result the NCCE as an institution had instituted civil education clubs in schools that they visited on regular basis to educate them on important issues such as corruption.
He said the Commission during its focal group discussions for women and adult groups always encouraged parents to lead exemplary lives for their wards to emulate.
GNA
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