Corruption will end if Ghanaians change their attitude – Senior Minister
Senior Minister, Yaw Osafo Marfo says Ghanaians have a role to play in ending corruption in the country.
He said despite the fine laws in Ghana, it will take a change of attitudes and mindset to end corruption.
The Senior Minister spoke at a forum in Accra.
“Our current state of development is a reflection of our values, mindset, priorities, and work ethics as a people. We need a mindset change to achieve Ghana Beyond Aid,” he said.
He said the careless use of resources is one other way through which Ghanaians promote corruption.
Yaw Osafo Marfo stated, “You leave your office and leave all the air conditions and lights on. The office is paying the bill. Once power is being used, somebody has to pay. So you are undermining the whole system. Transparency and accountability results in Ghana free from all forms of corruption. Corruption obviously takes a big toll on our resources because it runs through the system and we have to fight and fight it hard.”
Successive governments have struggled to win the fight against corruption in the country which is estimated to cost the nation millions of cedis annually.
Some political leaders have occasionally complained about the increasing rate of corruption in the country with some blaming the President and his appointees for the surge.
Anti-corruption crusader and former Executive Director of the Ghana Integrity Initiative Vitus Azeem on Friday, 6th September, 2019 accused President Akufo Addo for failing miserably at tackling the deep-rooted vice that is crippling the country.
Speaking on Eyewitness News, he indicated that the Akufo Addo government tops the list as the administration with the most cases of corruption.
“People voted because the President had promised that he was going to tackle corruption head on, so he raised our expectation. So, in my observation, he has failed because he may be personally incorruptible but he appoints people who do things wrongly but he has not done anything about it. So, he cannot be exonerated from blame. I think he has failed,“ he declared.
The Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu has also complained that the actions of government appointees and heads of institutions is one of the impediments to the fight against corruption.