Sissala youth tasked to combat corruption
Mr Moses Luri, Executive Director of the Sissala Literacy and Development Programme (SILDEP), has urged youth groups to join the fight against corruption in order to save resources for national development.
He said corruption had a serious negative impact on national development hence the need for government, civil society, the private sector and vibrant youth groups “to rise up and say no to corruption for a better tomorrow for all”.
Mr Luri was speaking at a forum organised by SILDEP at Tumu in the Sissala East District of the Upper West Region, to mark the United Nation’s Anti-Corruption Day.
The forum which brought together heads of department, traditional authorities, non-governmental organisations, representatives from political parties, youth groups and associations was sponsored by the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition.
Mr Luri said though the recent Corruption Perception Index showed an improvement in Ghana’s performance, corruption still remained a critical challenge in the country’s quest to develop.
The Executive Director said the fight against corruption could not be fought and won if the country continued to use outmoded strategies for the exercise.
He pointed out that one of the key strategies to fight corruption was the need for more coalitions at the grassroots level to educate the people on how to hold their leaders accountable.
Mr Luri said the youth must also be properly educated on corruption and motivated to become agents of transformation in their communities to help eliminate the problem.
Madam Alijata Sulemana, District Chief Executive (DCE) commended SILDEP and its partner organisations for organising the programme to raise public awareness on the negative effects of corruption to national development.
She mentioned lack of moral values and the get-rich-quick attitude as some of the causes of corruption in the society.
These anti-social practices, the DCE said brought about poverty and under-development.
She noted that the fight against corruption had always remained the concern of government and to demonstrate that the Executive had established certain institutions to help deal with the problem.
These include; the Economic and Organise Crime Office, Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament, the Audit Service as well as the Public Procurement Authority.
Other independent institutions such as Transparency International and its affiliates are complementing the efforts of government in fighting corruption.
Source: GNA