Join Fight Against Corruption At Home � Prez Mills

President John Vans Atta Mills has asked Ghanaians living abroad to take active part in the fight against corruption in the country, saying the nature of the menace requires all citizens to be involved. President Mills, who made the call during an interaction with members of the Ghanaian community in Denmark, at Copenhagen, the Danish capital on Friday evening, urged Ghanaians living outside to insist on their right and desist from paying bribes, particularly at the ports when they returned to Ghana. The President, who has since returned home, said it was unfortunate that many, Ghanaians living abroad willingly paid bribes to cut corners during transactions back in Ghana, stressing that they could, in their own small ways, contribute to the fight against corruption by desisting from such practices. Responding to questions on measures by the government to tackle corruption, President Mills gave the assurance that his administration was giving priority to the war on corruption, which he described as �very destructive to society�. Although it was true that corruption should first be tackled from leadership, since �a fish gets rotten from the head, it is not a fight for the President alone, but a fight that we must all engage in. �it is not going to be easy, but we have to start from somewhere, �he said, and assured Ghanaians abroad that the government was not leaving anything to chance in the fight against corruption. Recognizing that poor living conditions were a recipe for corruption, he said the government was doing everything possible to enhance the economy to better the lot of the people. That, he said, was the prime reason for which the government was voted into power, and his administration would surely deliver on that obligation. He was optimistic that the national economy stood a better chance of a brighter future, emphasizing, �we believe 2010 will be far better than 2009.� He said although there were enormous challenges confronting the economy when his administration took over last January, the challenges did not daunt his team but rather toughened them to take on more demanding tasks. Touching on the oil find, President Mills assured that adequate measures were being instituted to ensure that the revenue from the resource was used for the benefit of the citizenry. The President, who was in Denmark to participate in the high-level meeting at the United Nations Conference on Climate Change, also called on Ghanaians abroad direct their investment at home. He lauded the sacrifice they continued to make for the country and their families back home, and urged them to be good ambassadors of Ghana, by promoting her as an attractive investment destination. In addition, he urged them to provide constructive criticism to support the government in building a better Ghana, and assured them of congenial investment environment and fairness irrespective of their different background and political affiliations. �We are not claiming perfection or infallibility,� the president said and urged them to be discerning about issues back home, so that they could take well informed decisions, and not be carried away by vile propaganda engineered by the government�s political opponents. The Ghanaian community in Denmark, who were joined by their compatriots from Norway, Sweden and other Scandinavian countries, commended President Mills for granting them the opportunity to interact with him, and assured his administration of their support. The leadership of the Ghanaian community presented a gift to the President. With President Mills on the trip were Foreign Affairs Minister, Alhaji Mohammed Mumuni, Minister of Environment, Science and Technology, Ms. Sherry Ayittey and President Advisor on Foreign Policy, Ambassador James Victor Gbeho.