The Tema Metropolitan Office of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), in collaboration with the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC), has observed the International Anti-Corruption Day, educating pupils of First Star Academy and SOS Hermann Gmeiner Junior High School on corruption.

The sensitisation exercise, supported by partners including GIZ, the European Union (EU), the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the Ministry of Finance, was aimed at instilling anti-corruption values in the youth and encouraging them to uphold integrity, transparency and accountability in their daily lives.

International Anti-Corruption Day is observed globally on December 9 each year to raise awareness about corruption and to promote measures to prevent and combat it.

Madam Gifty Agyeiwaa Badu, the Tema Metropolitan Director of the NCCE, addressing students of First Star Academy, engaged the junior high school pupils in an interactive session to assess their understanding of corruption and its related practices.

Some students described embezzlement as diverting funds meant for public projects into personal use, while others explained extortion as illegally taking money from people in exchange for favours.

Madam Badu used the responses to further educate them on corruption, nepotism and favouritism, as well as introduced the pupils to the concept of whistleblowing, explaining its benefits and stressing that reporting corruption helped protect public resources and promoted fairness in society.

She explained that the GACC was one of the institutions mandated to continuously sensitise the public against corruption, adding that such engagements form a core part of the NCCE’s civic education mandate; that’s why the two institutions collaborated to celebrate the day.

She noted that although International Anti-Corruption Day was marked on December 9, activities often extended throughout the week, especially when schools and young people were involved.

According to her, this year’s celebration focused on the youth under the theme: “Uniting the Youth Against Corruption: Shaping Tomorrow’s Integrity”.

Madam Badu stressed that the forum targeted youth deliberately because they were future leaders and agents of change, stating that “If we catch them young and instill the right values, they will grow up knowing that corruption is wrong and that public resources must be managed responsibly.”

She explained corruption as the abuse of entrusted power for personal gain and cautioned that acts such as bribery, nepotism, favouritism, cheating in examinations, jumping queues and manipulation of grades also constitute corruption, even at the school level.

She further educated the students on Ghana’s legal framework for fighting corruption, particularly the Whistleblower Act, 2006 (Act 720), and the Witness Protection Act, 2018 (Act 975), which provide confidentiality and protection for individuals who report corruption and related offences.

Madam Badu encouraged the pupils to practise honesty and fairness in their daily activities and to report corrupt practices to appropriate authorities, including teachers, headteachers, the police, CHRAJ and the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP).

Mr Francis Tettehfio, Headmaster of the Junior High School Department of First Star Academy, commended the initiative, describing corruption as a growing problem among the youth.

He said the programme was important as the pupils would one day occupy positions of responsibility in society, reiterating that early education on corruption would help them resist and report such practices in the future.

He called for similar sensitisation programmes to be extended to all schools to help build a corruption-free society.