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Ghanaians have been advised to examine their actions and attitudes, and renew their mindsets in order to win the fight against corruption in the country.
Madam Josephine Nkrumah, Chairperson of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), described corruption as a national crisis which widens the gap between the poor and rich perpetuate social injustice.
She entreated the citizenry to uphold the values of integrity, honesty, accountability, discipline and challenged Ghanaians to conduct introspection in their lives and workplaces, in order to eschew negative vices that create fertile grounds for corruption to grow.
The NCCE Chairperson made these observations during the national launch of the I-SHAME Corruption in Ghana project in Accra recently. She called on stakeholders to adopt purposeful and deliberate approaches to teach and inculcate lasting values of integrity and truthfulness among children and the youth.
The Interfaith Shaping Hearts, Attitudes and Minds to End Corruption in Ghana, dubbed I-SHAME Corruption, a 23-month project starting from April 2018 to February 2020.
The project which aims at shaping the hearts, attitudes and minds of students of Ghanaians to shun corruption in the society is being implemented by the Forum for Action on Inclusion, Transparency and Harmony (FAITH) with other faith groups in the country.
The Chairperson of the NCCE who chaired the launch, also underscored the need for the faith leaders and Ghanaians to start teaching children morals, and positive values of respect, honesty, dignity and patriotism, which she stated were the software that drive the superstructure of the Ghana’s future.
“As a country, we have come to a crossroad in our nation building where we have to take a stand against corruption” she noted, urging adults to be role models to the children, and appealed to stakeholders to reexamine the educational curriculum to help instill these values in them.
Most Rev. Philip Naameh, President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference who performed the launch said since God created man in His owned imagine, human beings were endowed with light and goodness, adding that there was a duty for men, particularly the religious to shine the light to dispel darkness in the world.
Noting that the African and Ghanaian were incurably religious, the Archbishop of Tamale called on all Ghanaians to reactivate and rekindle their lights and drive away the darkness of evil of corruption around us.
With the launch of the project, Mr. Samuel Zan Akologo, Executive Director for Caritas Ghana and head of the Department of Human Development at the National Catholic Secretariat, stated that the I-SHAME Corruption in Ghana project will form Integrity Clubs in selected Basic Schools across the ten Regions of Ghana, to target pupils and teachers, with a co-curricular mentoring programme towards reorienting their behavior pattern, against corruption.
He noted that the project which would “contribute to uprooting Corruption from its tap root in Ghana”, is a citizen’s initiative to address the menace of Corruption, through collaboration with the Ghana Education Service and the National Commission for Civic Education at all levels of engagement of implementation.
To this end, the Executive Secretary said a Manual has been developed for that purpose to guide the Teachers and as a basis for monitoring performance at the selected school.
In addition, he said Officials of the NCCE Regional levels would conduct quarterly quizzes and debates for Integrity Club Members to enhance learning and peer networking for positive influence.
The Deputy Commissioner of the Commission for Administrative Justice, Mr. Richard Quayson, who commended the FBOs for their efforts, called for a more systematic approach to dealing with corruption in the country.
Hajia Ayishetu Abdul-Kadiri, Chair of the FAITH in Ghana Steering Committee, noted that the FAITH in Ghana coalition would leverage on the lessons learnt and best practices from an inter-faith cooperation for the 2016 elections in the implementation of the I-SHAME corruption project.
She stated that among the faith groups in the coalition on the project aside the Catholic Church, includes the Office of the National Chief Imam (ONCI), Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission (AMM), the Federation of Muslim Women’s Associations in Ghana (FOMWAG), The Marshallan Relief and Development Services (MAREDES) and the Christian Mothers Association (CMA).
By Kwesi Yirenkyi Boateng
