By Isaac Arkoh, GNA
Cape Coast, July 14, GNA – The Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC) has advocated for a renewed commitment to building a Ghana and an African continent where integrity thrived and corruption had no place.
According to the GACC, the fight against corruption was a shared responsibility that demanded the active participation of all.
It said every act of honesty, every decision to do what was right and every effort to promote accountability brought the country closer to the transparent, just and prosperous society it aspired to build.
Mrs Beauty Emefa Narteh, the Executive Secretary of GACC, disclosed this in a statement read on her behalf as GACC joined millions of people across Africa in commemorating the 2026 African Anti-Corruption Day at some schools in Cape Coast.
Ms Pauline Fleischer, a Member of the Cape Coast Local Accountability Network (LANet) under GACC, read the statement at separate sensitisation events for pupils of St Nicholas Basic School and St Monica’s Girls’ School.
Through the engagement, the LANet members listened directly to the pupils to understand how corruption affected their daily lives and aspirations and engaged them in meaningful conversations on practical actions they could take to promote accountability and integrity.
By giving young people a voice, LANet sought to empower them to become active contributors to the fight against corruption and champions of integrity within their communities.
That year’s celebration, themed “Scaling up the promotion of integrity and anti-corruption actions across Africa,” reminded everyone of the need to promote integrity and combat corruption as a shared responsibility.
The commemoration was particularly significant for the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition as it celebrated 25 years of advancing transparency, accountability, and integrity in Ghana.
The GACC said: “Our commitment to corruption fight s reflected in the impact of our youth-focused programmes. Last year, through our Local Accountability Networks (LANets), GACC reached more than 23,000 students through school sensitisation activities across 40 districts in all 16 regions of Ghana.
It added:”Building on this success, we are expanding our outreach this year to 85 districts nationwide, creating opportunities for even more young people to learn, engage, and become champions of integrity.”
Mrs Narteh said that building societies based on honesty, transparency and accountability required collective commitment from governments, institutions, communities and especially young people and promised that GACC and its partners would keep investing in the next generation as key partners in creating a more transparent, corruption-free Ghana.
She urged pupils to refuse corrupt acts, turn down offers involving bribery or cheating and report wrongdoing to a trusted teacher or authority, explaining that resisting temptation and declining gifts, favours, or shortcuts would help them keep their integrity and set clear boundaries.
The Executive Secretary added that reporting gave students a concrete, safe way to stop corruption, protect the school community, and build ethical habits that kept learning fair and trustworthy.
Ms Scholastica Caroline Mensah, a member of the LANET, warned that pupils who paid or offered favours to teachers or classmates in exchange for better marks or privileges were engaging in corruption.
She listed other corrupt behaviours among students, including stealing or hiding classmates’ belongings to gain leverage, favouritism in group assignments or class leadership selections where friendship does not merit determines outcomes, tampering with attendance registers, signing in for absent pupils and selling exam or homework answers for money or favours.
Ms Mensah called for urgent action from education authorities, school managers and parents to protect academic integrity.
She urged pupils to cultivate honesty by doing their own work, telling the truth and reporting unfair practices, saying these habits laid the groundwork for responsible citizenship.
“If pupils are taught to reject bribery, cheating and favouritism, and schools enforce clear rules, reporting will be encouraged and cooperative values promoted,” she said.
She appealed to parents, teachers and school administrators to model honesty at home and in school to help build a fairer, more accountable society that rewards merit instead of connections.
GNA
Edited by Alice Tettey/Benjamin Mensah
Reporter: Isaac Arkoh
Reporter’s email address: [email protected]