<<Print>>

Mr Eric Oyortey, an official of the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) has called on citizens to pay regular visits to anti-corruption offices to report suspected acts of corruption. He said under the Whistle Blower�s Act, "we are all mandated to report suspected corrupt acts for investigations" adding that," �we have to initiate the change, because if we don�t change, then the change would change us.� Speaking at a forum held under the Accountable Democratic Institutions Project at Abokobi, in the Ga East District, Mr Oyortey said �why do we keep paying taxes and yet we still don�t have good roads, pipe borne water supply, electricity etc? Is it possible that such taxes often end up in someone's pockets?� He said "corruption is the misuse of public funds for private gain or �mathematically speaking�, it could be described as the monopoly of power plus discretion, minus accountability.� Mr Oyortey said such corrupt acts are often secretive, illegitimate and serves a personal interest, adding that, various forms of corruption includes: bribery, misappropriation, extortion, embezzlement, conflict of interest, fraud and tax evasion. Mr Fred Nortey, an Official of the National Commission on Civic Education, said the NCCE is a body, which creates awareness on our civic rights and with this they work with all societal institutions to ensure that more are acquainted with government policies and programmes. He said citizens should all show concern to whatever occurs in their communities and verify if the right thing is being done with the authorities related to any project. Mrs Sandra Sarkwah, a Senior Official of SEND-Ghana, said the programme forms part of a sensitisation effort to introduce officers of key institutions in the district to tell us what they do and how they can be reached. She said the event being organised by SEND-Ghana, a civil society organisation, was to help citizens know their mandates on halting corrupt acts. Mrs Sarkwah said corruption affects us all and we should all be involved in the campaign, hence the approach to the assembly members, religious groups, traditional authorities, education authorities and the media.