Fighting corruption not lip fight — GACC to government

Mrs. Beauty Emefa Narteh, Executive Director of the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC), has revealed that until all stakeholders commit holistically to the fight against corruption, all efforts would amount to only scratching the surface of corruption instead of winning the fight against it.

"Fighting against corruption is not a slogan thing or a lip fight, as some of our leaders have been doing; rather, it takes leadership, commitment, and prosecution," Mrs. Narteh said in an engagement with the Ghana News Agency Tema Regional Office as part of the project "The fight against corruption in the Fourth Republic: A Mirage or Reality?"

The GACC Executive Director who shared their perspective on the GACC project dubbed "Building Evidence for Increased Accountability in Ghana through a Multi-Stakeholder Accountability Initiative" described it as a shame that corruption has been normalized in Ghana.

She said the country has stayed below the 50 percent mark for a long time on the corruption perception index, an indication that corruption is no longer a big deal to some people.

The GACC Executive Director said even though the National Anti-Corruption Action Plan (NACAP) 10-year implementation would end in 2024, it could not be said that Ghana has lived up to its objectives, even though some gains might have been made under it.

Mrs. Narteh again said that when the Corruption Perception Index and Afrobarometer reports were published on corruption in the country, they were often rubbished as being only perceptions rather than actuals.

She said, however, that the survey on actual perception by the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), published in 2022, and an Experience Survey conducted by GACC in 2017 all pointed to the fact that corruption was highly endemic in the country.

She called on the government and stakeholders to collectively make corruption a high-risk venture to deter people from venturing into it, but if it fails and becomes a lucrative venture, people will willingly go out and engage in it.

Mr. Francis Ameyibor, Ghana News Agency Tema Regional Manager, explained the topic "The fight against corruption in the Fourth Republic: A Mirage or Reality? Serves as a rallying point to assess the performance of anti-corruption institutions, both public and private, over the past 30 years.

Mr. Ameyibor said the platform seeks to offer front-line institutions in the fight against corruption the opportunity to analyze our collective performance, identify challenges, and adopt new measures for a proactive fight against corruption as we move forward as a nation.

Mr. Samuel Harrison-Cudjoe, GACC Programmes Manager, in his contribution, tasked Ghanaian youth to personalize the impact of corruption and help fight against it.

Mr. Harrison-Cudjoe noted that the coalition’s focus is to help the youth understand the impact of corruption and how it affects them personally, as well as get them involved in the anti-corruption drive.

He revealed that by involving the youth in the drive, the coalition also aimed at popularising the African Union Anti-Corruption Group which was formed to fight corruption in Africa.

He said GACC celebrated this year’s AU anti-corruption day in July with a project on the theme "Empowering Ghanaian Youth: GACC Commitment on AU Anti-Corruption Day" to gear towards creating informed and active citizens who will contribute to a corruption-free future for Ghana.

He added that the coalition targets the young ones in the basic and senior high schools to imbibe in them the knowledge of fighting corruption in the country.

Mr. Harrison-Cudjoe said, "We want to train a generation that will come to appreciate the fight against corruption and recognize corruption when they see it".

The District-Level Africa Union Anti-Corruption Day was celebrated on July 11 to recognize the vast progress that has been made and to be cognizant of the need to continually reflect on approaches to ending corruption.

The GACC, in collaboration with its Local Accountability Networks (LANets) and funding support from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, commemorated 2023 African Anti-Corruption Day in 31 districts across 14 regions in Ghana.