Government urged to institute National Award Scheme for Integrity

Dr Nicholas Atampugre, an Activist for Social and Political Transformation, has urged the Government to institute  a  National Award Scheme for Integrity to help fight corruption in the country.

Whilst acknowledging the government’s efforts at instituting measures including the Court systems, National Anti-Corruption Plan(NACAP), the proposed Special Prosecutor  among others to deal with menace, Dr Atampugre also proposed the need to  reward public servants who demonstrated beyond all doubts that  they were not corrupt whilst in public office.

“Of course many of you might say such individuals are yet to be born. But you will never know what is in the water until you throw in bait. I know of some public servants who have retired to their villages penniless with nothing to show for decades of impeccable service with integrity. There are many who have become laughing stocks. It is difficult these days to convince the youth that you can become successful and a secured livelihood without being corrupt”, he stressed.

The Activist made the call when he delivered a lecture on the topic” “The Significance of this Year’s Republic Day and Thereafter” in Bolgatanga.

The Public Lecture organised by the Social Justice Club (SJC), Ghana to mark the 25th anniversary of the 1992 constitution which coincided with the republic day attracted greater number of the youth and the general public.

Dr Atampugre who stated that corruption was both an individual and collective canker and attributed the phenomenon to greed stated that a well packaged National Award Scheme for Integrity would help in contributing to the reduction of corruption in Ghana.

Speaking on another theme “State Capture” the Activist for Social and Political Transformation, explained that it goes beyond corruption referring to it as,  “large scale looting of state resources which involved individuals with international collaborators in very sophisticated manner to create a continuous source of self-enrichment and funding for powerful political elites and their patronage networks”

He stated that in such instances political institutions and government agencies become so compromised that they are directly managed and manipulated by small group of people (Cable) to loot the state in a large scale.

He admitted that although Ghana as a country had not gotten to that stage yet, there was the fear that it would reach such stages if only punitive measures alone were used to deter corrupt practices without encouraging and nurturing integrity in public life.

Mr Yen Nyeya, a member of the SJC who chaired the function explained that among the aims of the movement was to bring ordinary and working people to engage with both the political and economic processes in Ghana in order to help transform the country in favour of the masses.

Mr Nyeya who drummed home the need for Ghana’s republic day to be set aside to reflect on what had been achieved so far, the challenges and the way forward , gave the assurance that his outfit would continue to embark on programmes to nature the values of nationalism and integrity in the youth to help contribute to the reduction of corruption and hinted that plans were far advanced to strengthen SJC branches all over the regions to help fight the cause.

He mentioned that the implementation of governments’ good programmes and policies would not be able to achieve their desire impact of improving on the lives of Ghanaians particularly the ordinary citizens without tackling corruption and economic mismanagement of state resources. 

The first ever  event  attracted  the youth and was characterized by lectures on topics such  as “The Significance of this Year’s Republic Day and Thereafter , Mobilization of Citizens for Economic and Social Transformation of Ghana and  Ensuring Gender Inclusion in the Struggle for Social Justice ”.

The occasion also afforded the participants the opportunity to ask questions pertaining to the republic day.

Source: GNA

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