<<Print>>

Mr Iddrisu Abass Amedor, Volta Regional Manager of Islamic Schools, has suggested that public sector employees must recite the national pledge daily before the start of work. He said the regular recital of the pledge, which was full of �rich teachings�, would remind them of their duty to the State and help to minimise corruption. Mr Amedor made the suggestion at a-two day forum on corruption, organised by the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) for faith-based organizations in the Volta region, in Ho, on Thursday. He said corruption was widespread in the country because the citizenry had left the recitation of the national anthem and pledge to children hence the loss of the sense of patriotism and honesty. Mr Amedor said it was also important for religious leaders to shun the preaching of materialism and focus on the feeding the souls of their members, saying, that was the only way they could help in the fight against corruption. He said the love for material things was making the citizens corrupt and it was that time the religious leaders drew the attention of their followers to their spiritual wellbeing, which was dependent on good moral values. �Our values make us perfect beings and not the material things,� Mr Amedor stressed. Mr Richard Quayson, Deputy Commissioner, Public Education and Anti-Corruption of CHRAJ, said religious bodies were the �guardians of truth� and charged them to show interest in the fight against corruption. �You religious leaders are fathers of the country,� he said. �You have the people and influence so if you can just teach your members to live right, we will be fine.� Mr Quayson said currently corruption was pervasive in the country with the citizenry only interested in talking about it but not concerned about how to tackle it. Mr Charles Ayamdo, Director, Anti-corruption, CHRAJ, said the fight against corruption was not for CHRAJ alone, therefore, all must come on board. He said over politicisation of every issue and unwillingness of people to report corrupt practices were major challenges in the fight against corruption. Mrs Linda Ofori-Kwaffo, Executive Secretary, Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition, called on religious leaders to re-examine the country�s value systems and help promote moral integrity. She asked them to develop standards to control the conduct of their members as a way of fighting corruption. Almost all questions asked by participants were about the importance of protecting whistle blowers.