Bishop challenges all to help fight corruption

The Bishop in charge of the Sekondi-Takoradi Diocese of the Catholic Church, Most Reverend Dr John Martin Darko, has observed that corruption is no respecter of persons and that any Ghanaian with self-esteem to protect must be alert to avoid being corrupted.

He said even the clergy including those in the Catholic Church could easily become victims of this social canker.

According to Bishop Darko, the clash between Jesus Christ and the Pharisees in the holy Bible stemmed from the Messiah's effort to correct their corrupt practices, noting that modern clergymen are not free from it.

Most Reverend Dr Darko made these observations when delivering a keynote address at a two-day regional workshop for the Promotion of Democracy and Good Governance in Ghana at Takoradi.

The workshop which was jointly organised by the Ghana Integrity Initiative and the National Commission for Civic Education was under the theme: 'Fighting corruption, an Agenda for Democracy and Good Governance.'

The Bishop noted that corruption which is a danger to democracy and good governance, corrodes infrastructure and that Ghana certainly cannot afford to look the other way when the canker is blatantly displayed in public.

He said a corrupt person is nothing but a 'clever thief' who oppresses the helpless poor in the society. Citing instances of corrupt practices in the country such as double sale of lands, the bishop said it needed the collective effort of all in the fight against this menace.

Punishment and education, he said, could also be used as weapons in checking corrupt practices.

In a speech read on his behalf, the Western Regional Minister, A E Amoah, reiterated that corruption has to be confronted from all fronts since it exists in all facets of the Ghanaian society, adding that both the public and private sectors are guilty of it.

The minister noted that the scourge of corruption is one of the greatest challenges facing the citizenry, especially those in less developed countries like Ghana.

He said it was to effectively deal with corruption that government has taken a number of steps such as the enactment of the Public Procurement, Financial Administration and the Anti-Money Laundering Law to serve as a check on corruptible practices of the citizenry.

The Executive Secretary of Ghana Integrity Initiative, Vitus A Azeem, who expressed dissatisfaction over slow execution of the President's policy of 'zero tolerance' of corruption, urged the President to fast tract it.

He called on society to shun undemocratic practices such as vote buying, abuse of incumbency and misuse of state resources to ensure that electoral processes and practices are free and transparent.

The workshop which was attended by political party representatives, the media, heads of departments and a cross-section of the public aimed at creating awareness about the negative effects of corruption.

It as also aimed at sensitising citizens at the regional level to demand responsiveness, accountability and transparency from people and institutions in their communities and the regional administrative structures, among other things.