We have all we need to overcome corruption - Forum

Discussants at the 50th Anniversary Lectures of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ghana have argued that but for greed and avarice, the country has all the laws required to combat the high level corruption at all levels.

They have also deplored the situation where people get paid for virtually doing no work, while others on fixed salaries idle in offices waiting patiently for the end of the month to draw their salaries.
 
Again official vehicles serve personal and private interests, while self-seeking endeavours have reduced otherwise busy business centres into playgrounds.
 
They said the surge in corrupt acts is due to the fact that laws do not bite in Ghana and that the lousy enforcement of laws often leaves sour grapes in the mouth of the public and therefore called on the judiciary to rise to the occasion and apply the rules to the letter because it was not enough for people to go to jail for corrupt practices.
 
“We demand the confiscation of the ill-gotten wealth and it must be without exception - family members, friends, and cronies must not be spared the long arms of the law,” it said.
 
Delivering a lecture prior to the discussions, Prof. Daniel Agyapong Nyarko, Rector of the Takoradi Polytechnic called for the empowerment of the anti-corruption agencies to prosecute cases without any interference.
 
He said having beautifully crafted codes of conduct for public and allied officials was not enough but that “Political will to prosecute must be present and office holders must be made accountable for their stewardship and anybody proven guilty of corruption must be named and shamed.”
 
The Rector expressed shock that every six out of 10 persons profess to the Christian faith while churches compete favourably with the number of shops in towns and cities at a near one-to-one ratio. Churches therefore had a role to uphold the conscience and integrity of the nation.

“The churches, and family members must begin to question all ill-gotten wealth and ostracize those who do not come with clean hands,” he admonished.
 
To eradicate corruption, he said conscious efforts must be made through public education to grow a new breed of Ghanaians who would imbibe the values of honesty, eschew greed and be each other’s keeper.
 
Construction

Prof. Nyarko said poor construction works were being certified by engineers who know better and monies are paid unduly for shoddy jobs certified by them. He said such engineers must be prosecuted to instil discipline and serve as a deterrent in the industry.
 
Aside that, he said “Public procurement is another area fraught with corrupt practices. The straight rules and longer procedures make circumvention attractive.”
 
Prof Nyarko proposed that the straight rules and long procedures must be reviewed to make it easy and friendly to engender voluntary compliance.
 
“All public contracts must have review clauses for all items and not part thereof so that unfriendly portions can be changed on review dates,” he said.