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Today Tuesday, December 9, 2014 marks International Anti-Corruption Day. The day presents yet another opportunity for Ghanaians to stand together in unison and fight this social canker. The theme of this year�s global celebration - Break the Corruption Chain - should be seen as a call to duty on Ghanaians to put a stop to the scourge of corruption ravaging our country in our individual and collective capacities. Indeed, the message of this year�s campaign � �taking back what was lost through corrupt practices is everyone�s responsibility� - has a direct link to current events in Ghana, as confirmed by the efforts of citizens, citizen groups, and government to retrieve monies lost to the nation through public corruption. CDD-Ghana commends all those who have taken such initiatives. Corruption undermines our common efforts at advancing human rights and achieving greater prosperity for all. It exacts its greatest toll on society�s most vulnerable people, and promotes poverty, inequality, and social instability. The rise in perceived levels of corruption among public officials together with the low levels of popular trust in key democratic and state institutions, revealed in the Round Six Afrobarometer survey in Ghana is deeply worrying. Accordingly, we must intensify our individual and collective efforts to fight against public corruption. CDD-Ghana urges the government to demonstrate strong political will by vigorously enforcing the existing laws against corruption in Ghana without fear or favor. We call on the government to adequately resource the key independent anti-corruption institutions to guarantee their independence and to promote their effectiveness. We also demand that the leadership of our anti-corruption institutions lead by example and remain resolute in the discharge of their duties. We commend the government for enacting a code of conduct for public officials and also for giving approval to the National Anti-Corruption Action Plan. However, we respectfully insist that these initiatives and other anti-corruption laws are not in and of themselves sufficient to eradicate the canker. To be effective, they must be backed by principled leadership and commitment to operate a clean government. Furthermore, we call for the reform of the existing public office holder asset disclosure regulations to make it mandatory for those disclosures to be made public. Finally, we call for the complete de-politicization of the fight against corruption in Ghana. Long live good governance in Ghana. Long live the Fourth Republic of Ghana. Dated: 9th December, 2014 Mina Okuru, Communication Officer