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The Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference has stated that present-day Ghana is openly and pervasively corrupt. It said the bishops had time and again spoken about the twin evil of bribery and corruption in Ghana but �we regret to note that these evils continue to ravage every fabric of the Ghanaian society�. These were contained in a communique read by the President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference, the Most Rev Joseph Osei Bonsu, at the end of its 2014 Plenary Assembly at Oshiuman, near Accra. The bishops drew the curtain on the plenary assembly, which took place from November 4 to 15, 2014, with a High Mass at the Holy Spirit Cathedral in Accra last Friday. It was on the theme: "The pastoral challenges of the family in the context of evangelisation�. The bishops expressed concern over the twin evil, saying that �people at all levels of society, including some Christians, are engaged in naked corruption with impunity�. They called on all Ghanaians to make a serious self-examination of their conscience concerning bribers and corruption and repent. �We must all resolve from today never to engage in acts of bribery and corruption or condone same,� they admonished. They, however, commended the government for the recent prosecution of some high-level personalities in government and for setting up various commissions of enquiry into alleged corrupt practices at high levels. �We do think, however, that our government could do more to nip this canker in the bud. Certainly individuals and private businesses should do their part to end corruption in our country,� they said. Corruption �Reports of corruption from the media and ongoing national commissions of enquiry such as the judgement debts, GYEEDA and SADA, the National Service Scheme, the 2014 FIFA World Cup, as well as allegations of corruption in CHRAJ, are worrying,� they said. The bishops decried the mismanagement and apparent failure of programmes and institutions and called on the government to do all it could to ensure that they delivered on their mandate. They also said the Catholic Church expected the government to act without fear or favour in dealing with those who would be found culpable in the reports of the ongoing investigations. �We urge financial institutions, especially the banks, to beware of money laundering and the reported cases of cheating of unsuspecting clients by some unscrupulous workers in the banks and financial institutions. �We appeal to the Bank of Ghana to come to the aid of all those who lose their money through some failed micro-finance institutions,� the bishops said. They said greed bred hard-heartedness, theft, blackmail, bribery and corruption and even murder. �Corruption encourages and condones incompetence, mediocrity at work and disrespect for higher authority, as well as unnecessary bureaucracy. It drives away investment and leads to unnecessary suffering and poverty,� the bishops added. Threat of Ebola, cholera Touching on the threat of Ebola, they expressed regret at the harm being caused by the Ebola viral disease which had so far claimed more than 5,000 lives in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone. �We pray for the families which have lost their loved ones and ask that intensive prayers be offered for an end to this scourge, even as we urge Ghanaians to continue to observe all health safety precautions and to refer to and abide by the instructions we shared on the Ebola disease just last August,� they said. On cholera, the bishops called for the continued observance of hygienic practices to completely deal with it and prevent its recurrence, saying, �We appeal to all Ghanaians to take seriously the directives by the Ministry of Health on how to prevent those diseases.� New policy on education �We learn that the Ministry of Education is in the process of proposing a new consolidated bill in education which aims at effectively decentralising education service delivery and management. �We are not opposed to education reforms but we feel the need for broad-based consultation on some reforms, especially with all major stakeholders, including the church�, the bishops said. They explained that since parents had conferred life on their children, they had the most natural and divine obligation to educate their children in schools and institutions of their choice. They said parents� inalienable right had been significantly usurped by the Computerised Schools Selection and Placement System (CSSPS), a system that parents continued to decry for reasons many Ghanaians were beginning to understand. �We, therefore, call on the government to be transparent on any ongoing policy considerations on educational reforms. �We urge the government to expedite action on the formalisation of the Partnership on Education submitted by religious and other bodies whose schools are in the public system,� the bishops said. Road accidents Referring to a report from the National Road Safety Commission for 2013 which stated that about 2,000 people lost their lives in road and transport accidents, the bishops warned that the trend for this year suggested that the figure might go up if immediate and radical changes were not made to address the situation. They said apart from the trauma and other untold hardships such accidents visited on the affected families, the country too lost its precious citizens. They, therefore, urged all Ghanaians, especially transport owners and other road users, to, as a matter of urgency, exhibit maximum vigilance and abide by all road and transport regulations. �Passengers and pedestrians should protest and try to restrain and report all drivers who drive carelessly to the appropriate authorities. �Further, we urge all our priests and ministers of other religions to use the pulpit to educate and remind their followers about the �dos and don�ts� on our roads,� the bishops advised.