By Philip Tengzu, GNA
Hamile (UW/R), Dec. 17, GNA – Students and youth in Hamile in the Lambussie District have been sensitised on the dangers of corruption and the need for them to uphold integrity as part of activities to mark the 2025 International Anti-Corruption Day (IACD).
The separate engagements, held at the Hamile T.I. Ahmadiyya Junior High School and the Silaa Court Youth in Hamile, were on the theme: “Uniting the Youth Against Corruption: Shaping Tomorrow’s Integrity.”
The Local Accountability Network (LANET) organised the engagements in partnership with the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC).
It was funded by the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) through the European Union (EU)-funded Participation, Accountability and Integrity for a Resilient Democracy (PAIReD) programme and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.
The participants were taken through issues of corruption, its manifestations and its negative impact on individual and national development.
Mr Salifu Inusah of LANET, who led the engagements, explained corruption as practices such as bribery, fraud, embezzlement, extortion and favouritism.
He stressed that such acts undermined trust, weakened public institutions and impeded development in general.
Mr Inusah also introduced the participants to state institutions and laws such as the Whistleblower Act, 2006 (Act 720), the Witness Protection Act and the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), among others.
He encouraged the students and youth to take advantage of those legal provisions and institutions to report suspected acts of corruption within organisations and the larger society without fear of victimisation.
“Do not be silent in the face of wrongdoing. Resist, reject and report corruption. It is the responsibility of all of us to fight corruption,” he urged.
Mr Inusah noted that whistleblowing was important because it helped protect public property, stopped corruption at its early stage, helped punish offenders and contributed to building a fairer society.
He said such reporting could be made to institutions such as the Police, Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), the OSP, and the community leaders, among others, for the necessary action to be taken.
The participants expressed appreciation to LANET and its partners for the engagement and called for more education on anti-corruption issues.
Mr Aziz Karim, a representative of the Silaa Court Youth, thanked the organisers, the GACC and the donors for the opportunity to learn more about corruption and the Whistleblower Act.
He expressed the group’s hope to be engaged in more anti-corruption programmes in the future.
GNA
Edited by Caesar Abagali / Christabel Addo