Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia
Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has expressed serious reservations about the commitment of some state institutions in the fight against corruption.
He said out of a total of 397 implementing partners targeted under the National Anti-Corruption Action Plan (NACAP) in the year 2017, only 87 institutions reported on the implementation of NACAP.
At the same time, he indicated that only 11 out of 215 metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) participated that year.
Meanwhile, he noted that “by its design, mobilising efforts and resources of stakeholders (government, public, private and civil society) to prevent and combat corruption depends on stakeholder participation to fight corruption” and that “the greater the stakeholders’ willingness to implement their roles, the better the results for us as a nation.”
The Vice President made these remarks at an event held in Accra to mark International Anti-Corruption and Human Rights Day and 15 years of the adoption of the United Nations Convention against Corruption.
Continuing, he asserted: “President Akufo-Addo would like to encourage all public sector institutions to take all necessary steps to implement their roles under NACAP and report on them as per the reporting arrangement.”
Apart from that, he said “the President also wants to assure CHRAJ that government will continue to support it to effectively coordinate the implementation of the NACAP.”
He recognised the roles of the private sector and civil society in the implementation of NACAP, particularly in holding government to account, making reference to a report launched by anti-corruption think tank – Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) – on Monday, 3rd December, which revealed that Ghana had failed to submit reports to the African Union Advisory Board on Corruption in accordance with Article 22, paragraph 7 of the AU Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption.
He stated: “We can assure you that government takes its obligations under international law very seriously and would take steps to ensure Ghana is in full compliance with not only the AU Convention but also those of the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC)”.
He therefore insisted: “It is time we confronted corruption head-on. It is time we took difficult but necessary decisions and steps to minimize corruption in our national life,” adding “it is in our best interest as a nation to strive to use our human and financial resources in a more ethical and efficient manner, attract more investment, and grow more rapidly to meet the expectations of our growing population.”
Meanwhile, the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) has stressed the need for government to address the low participation of stakeholders in the implementation of NACAP, especially state institutions.
Deputy Commissioner, Richard Ackom Quayson, said: “Indeed, NACAP entrusts the primary responsibility for implementing the NACAP to the Executive, made up of the President and his Cabinet, as well as MDAs and MMDAs”.
He also stressed the need for the Ministry of Finance and the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) to improve their supervision over planning and budgeting to ensure that state institutions do plan and budget for the implementation of NACAP during the budget cycle.
By Charles Takyi-Boadu, Presidential Correspondent