The Sunyani Local Accountability Network (LaNet) has educated students of Sunyani in the Bono Regional Capital on the need to join the fight against corruption in Ghana.
The initiative forms part of the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition’s (GACC) programmes through LaNet to mark Ghana’s 2024 African Union Anti-Corruption Day.
Mr. Raphael Ahenu Jnr, Secretary of the Sunyani Local Accountability Network (LANet), revealed that Ghana lost nearly GHC15 billion to corruption in 2022.
Addressing students at separate meetings in Kuotokrom in Sunyani, he emphasized that corruption remains a significant obstacle to national development.
Mr Ahenu explained that corruption leads to poor governance and weakened institutions, undermining their legitimacy by negatively affecting citizens’ perceptions of fairness. He stressed that fighting corruption could reduce the need for foreign borrowing and reliance on foreign aid and the World Bank for development.
“No patriotic citizen would engage in socio-economic and political corruption,” Mr. Ahenu stated. He urged students to resist the influence of political parties and politicians who might use money to incite them to political violence.
He also warned against participating in political violence, noting that such actions would ultimately harm themselves, their families, and the country by leading to political instability and hostilities.
LANet, with support from the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC), sensitized Junior High School students from Kuotokrom Municipal Assembly and Nyamaa Basic Schools on electoral corruption offences. The sessions covered voting buying and selling, underage voting, and ballot and results manipulation.
This sensitization was part of the activities to commemorate this year’s African Union (AU) Annual Anti-Corruption Day (AACD), celebrated on July 11. The AACD aims to recognize the progress made in fighting corruption across the continent and emphasize the need for modern approaches to combat it.
The eighth edition of the AACD, themed “Effective Whistleblower Protection Mechanism: A Critical Tool in the Fight Against Corruption,” provided an opportunity to reflect on the catastrophic consequences of corruption on the lives of ordinary African citizens and to maintain the momentum needed to tackle this issue effectively.
