By Mercy Arthur
Tema, July 12, GNA-The Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC) joins the African Union (AU) to mark the 20th Anniversary of the adoption of the AU Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption on July 11.
Mrs Beauty Emefa Narteh, GACC Executive Director, said the celebration aims to encourage states belonging to the Convention to renew their commitments to effective implementation of the provisions of the Convention and to reflect on innovations that could facilitate a better functioning of the anti-corruption system for Africa we want.
She said the commemoration will also draw attention to the values and principles enshrined in the Convention and facilitate the renewed commitment of stakeholders to the achievement of Aspiration 3 of Agenda 2063, which calls for “An Africa of good governance, democracy, respect for human rights, justice, and the rule of law”.
Speaking at Ghana News Agency Tema Regional Office media engagement dubbed: “Is the fight against corruption a mirage or reality? Mrs Narteh urged the youth to stand out as anti-corruption vanguards.
She said corruption had been identified as a major root cause of poverty, deprivation, and underdevelopment, adding that in the case of Ghana, the high prevalence of corruption had resulted in poor service delivery and a lack of access to the necessities of life.
“Corruption is equally a threat to Ghana’s democratic ideals, particularly the rule of law, justice for all, and equality before the law,” she noted.
She said the observance of African Anti-Corruption Day on July 11th each year is a result of Africa’s recognition of the importance of regularly evaluating the strategies employed to combat corruption and unethical behaviour.
“This evaluation is essential to gauge their effectiveness in addressing the evolving trends and patterns of corruption,” Mrs Narteh noted.
The GACC Executive Director explained that to commemorate the event, the coalition has outlined a series of activities under the District-Level Africa Union Anti-Corruption Day, which is slated for July 11, a day set aside by the AU to recognise the vast progress that had been made and be cognizant of the need to continually reflect on approaches to end corruption.
She explained that GACC, in collaboration with its Local Accountability Networks (LANets) and with funding support from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, is commemorating the 2023 African Anti-Corruption Day in 31 districts across 14 regions in Ghana.
Mrs Narteh, supported by Ms Pamela Laourou, Communication Assistant, and Mr Samuel Harrison-Codjoe, GACC’s Programmes Manager, said the objectives of the activity seek to sensitise the youth on corruption and its effects, empower the youth to activate their agency in the anti-corruption fight, and draw attention to the AU Anti-Corruption Day.
She said the main activity to be observed by the Local Accountability Networks (LANets) would be engagements with youth in basic and Senior high Schools and religious bodies such as churches and Mosques.
“Engaging the youth in their schools gives the project the advantage of spreading anti-corruption information to both students and their teachers.
“Whilst the young people, armed with the information, can spread the message to their parents and other community members, the teachers become the project’s sustainability channel as they will be able to impart the knowledge gained to other students who may come to the school later,” she noted.
The GACC project is dubbed “Building Evidence for Increased Accountability in Ghana through a Multi-Stakeholder Accountability Initiative.”
Mr Harrison-Codjoe stressed that the focus on students would also engage the teachers to become their sustainability channels to continue what the coalition had done already, which wouldn’t be in the form of a curriculum.
He added that the engagement of the teachers was to find out if materials were given to them for reference and a connection to refer to them as well.
Ms Laourou said the GACC is expecting the youth to grow with values so that they can also say no to corruption with confidence.
She, however, mentioned that progress could be made against corruption if resources, efforts, and energies were committed.
GNA