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Mr Kwamena Duncan, the Central Regional Minister, has said corruption is a bane of national development, which calls for concerted efforts to nib in the bud.

   He said proper management of public resources, integrity, transparency and accountability were cardinal elements in the quest for a corruption free society, adding; “Change must come and it should start with me and you”.

   Mr Duncan was speaking at a corruption sensitisation forum to educate identifiable groups in Cape Coast on the need to extricate themselves from corrupt practices.

   It formed part of activities under the Integrity, Mobilization, Participation, Accountability, Anticorruption and Transparency (IMPACT) Ghana Project supported by Global Affairs, Canada.

   It is being implemented by the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Transparency International and the Ghana News Agency.

   Mr Duncan said engaging in corrupt practices at work and contract dealings were detrimental to national development resulting in shoddy infrastructure, undermined integrity, democracy, good governance and productivity.

   He said if corruption was not checked it would lead to a culture of impunity where everybody may engage in it because offenders were not sanctioned to serve as deterrent.

   He underlined the need for Ghanaians, particularly politicians, to desist from media trial of corruption related cases and called for attitudinal change to stem corruption and bribery in the country.

   “The practice of putting unnecessary financial pressure on public office holders that forced many to engage in that act must end,” he said adding that the Ghanaian should make sober reflections on the level of corruption in the country and its effects on the economy.