Stop Blaming Acts Of Corruption On Presidency - CHRAJ Boss

The Commissioner for Human Rights and Administrative Justice, (CHRAJ), Madam Lauretta Vivian Lamptey has called for a bipartisan anti-corruption action plan as the only pragmatic measure to combat corruption and urged people to desist from blaming acts of corruption on the doorsteps of the presidency. According to her, collective approach to dealing with the canker is the best solution and that instead of apportioning blames of corruption on political leaders, institutions must rather be held accountable for their misappropriations. The commissioner made this call during the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the international anti-corruption day on the theme; �Zero Corruption-100 Percent Development,� adding that the theme represents a new global campaign to commemorate the international corruption day. She noted that, raising awareness of the public on the negative effects of corruption is one of the ways to enlist the support of the public in combating corruption. �Over the years, the commission has done this in the regions, districts and communities of the country. Over 100 public education programs on corruption, conflict of interest and integrity in general are being organized annually in the various parts of the country.� Mrs Lamptey emphasized that high tolerance of the public for corruption, over politicization of corruption and crime, cynicism of a section of the public about national efforts to combat corruption and low investment and mis-prioritization in anti-corruption are some of the challenges that faced the commission. �...All of us must play our respective roles in fighting corruption. Resisting bribes, saying No to a gift of Hamper from a prohibited source providing honest service to the public without expecting a �thank you� in monetary terms, and reporting corruption to the appropriate agencies, are the least that good citizens must do to help fight corruption,� she advised. According to her, as of July 2013, about two hundred and two persons were serving various sentences in the prisons for corruption, in areas of, fraud, extortion, trading in influence, bribery and obstruction of justice. And that, a total of three hundred and thirty-six others are awaiting trial in the same period for corruption offences, adding that the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO) was able to freeze suspected illicit assets in over 46 cases. She further noted that, more than 30 people have been interrogated by the EOCO since September this year in relation to the Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Development Agency (GYEEDA) case. According to EOCO, those being investigated include two ministers of state, a former minister, a member of parliament (MP) and 23 officials of GYEEDA. Other officials from five service providers under the various models of the programs and several other public officials, including the secretary to the ministerial committee on GYEEDA, are assisting the EOCO with their investigations. The MP for Ashaiman, Alfred Agbeshie also reiterated the call for all-inclusiveness in the fight against corruption, debunking the public perception of viewing parliamentarians as being corrupt. The executive director of EOCO, Kweku Mortey Alpadi on his part appealed to the press to be very circumspect with the manner in which they handle information rather than chasing for information and ending up misrepresenting them. The chairperson of the occasion was the Attorney General and the minister of Justice, Marietta Brew Appiah Opong.