Corruption weakens education and health, undermines electoral processes – Ki-moon
Corruption weakens education and health, undermines electoral processes and reinforces injustices by perverting criminal justice systems and the rule of law, United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon has said.
By diverting domestic and foreign funds, corruption wrecks economic and social development and increases poverty. It harms everyone, but the poor and vulnerable suffer most, a report available on the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP’s) website cited him as saying.
The UN Convention against Corruption, through its peer review mechanism, is mobilizing action for honest, transparent, accountable governance, but far more is needed, it said.
His message comes to commemorate World Anti-Corruption Day observed over the weekend.
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is the world’s inspiring new manifesto for transforming our world and building a better future for all. But as we undertake this crucial journey of implementation, a broad barrier stands in our path: corruption. No country is immune, and every country bears a responsibility to end it.
On International Anti-corruption Day, let us reaffirm our commitment to ending the deceit and dishonesty that threaten the 2030 Agenda and our efforts to achieve peace and prosperity for all on a healthy planet, the statement concluded.
The Ghana Anti-corruption Coalition, a cross sectional group of independent public institutions marked the Day by distributing about 4000 car stickers to commercial and private car drivers in Accra to sensitize the public on the need to eliminate corruption.
A report published elsewhere today sarcastically indicates that Kenya failed to mark the day after money allocated for the celebration went missing.
Another report says more than $148 billion is lost to corruption in Africa every year.
The amount are funds meant for projects such as hospitals and schools in communities, which are diverted into private pockets of corrupt public officials while the poor and the needy continue to suffer and the continent as a whole fails to make progress, Ki-moon said.
By Pamela Ofori-Boateng
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