Coalition ups effort to empower citizens to report corruption

The Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC) has scaled up its effort at assisting to give people the courage to report wrongful and improper conduct.

As part of this, it has organized a day’s training workshop on corruption reporting for students of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi.

The programme, funded by the United States (US) Embassy in Ghana, was used to teach the students how to expose acts of bribery, deliberate trickery to gain financial benefits and theft of public funds.

A similar training had already been held for those in the University of Development Studies (UDS), Wa Campus.

The goal was to encourage them to take advantage of corruption reporting mechanisms – “Advocacy and Legal Advice Centre” and the “I paid a bribe”, to unmask corrupt public officials.

The Legal Advice Centre has been receiving complaints from witnesses or victims corruption through one-on-one meetings, post mails, or telephone calls while complaints are lodged online, regarding the “I paid a bribe” approach.

Mr. Bright Sowu, a Senior Researcher of the GACC, said it was important for everybody to find space to contribute to the fight to bring down corruption in the society.

He added that the abuse of entrusted power for personal gain could not continue and that the anti-corruption campaign should be all-embracing.

He called for student leaders to refuse to be corrupted and asked that they upheld the values of transparency and accountability.

They should also accept to involve those they were representing in decision-making.

Source: GNA