By Dennis Peprah
Yawhima, (Bono), Aug. 16, GNA – The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) has cautioned the public against the practice of giving gifts to public office holders and duty bearers.
According to Mr Johnson Mawuli Tsagli, Bono Regional Administrator of CHRAJ, giving gifts to public officials could breed corruption and abuse of their offices.
He gave the advice at a forum on corruption held at Yawhima in the Sunyani Municipality of the Bono Region and organised by the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC).
The forum, which sensitised participants on corruption and its attendant consequences for the family, society and the nation, was attended by chiefs and queens, market women and traders, faith-based organisations, students, and anti-corruption actors and institutions.
It was organised as part of the implementation of the “Strengthening Accountability, Rule of Law and Institutional Responsiveness in Ghana” (SARIS) project.
The SARIS project is funded by the European Union (EU) in Ghana and is being implemented across 24 districts, seeking to strengthen the watchdog role of civil society organisations.
It also seeks to support advocacy for reforms aimed at improving Ghana’s integrity systems, with CDD-Ghana, in collaboration with the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC) and Transparency International Ghana (TI Ghana), serving as the project implementers.
Mr Tsagli noted that gifts could easily influence duty bearers and public officials in their decision-making and judgments, and instead called on the public to support the fight against corruption by holding public office holders accountable.
He emphasised that anti-corruption agencies and the government alone could not shoulder the broader responsibility of tackling corruption.
Mr Tsagli expressed concern that corrupt practices such as embezzlement, extortion and conflict of interest deprived the masses of basic needs, including potable drinking water, electricity, as well as educational and health facilities.
That, he explained, was why every well-meaning Ghanaian ought to support the fight against the menace.
Miss Pamela Laourou, an Assistant Communications Officer at the GACC, noted that corruption remained a serious societal canker that required a collective approach to tackle.
She advised participants to return to their respective localities and homes and implement the knowledge they had acquired to bring positive change in the attitudes and minds of the masses.
GNA
Edited By Audrey Dekalu
Reporter: Dennis Peprah
Email: [email protected]