The Executive Secretary of the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition, Mrs. Beauty Emefa Narteh has urged Ghanaians to eschew corrupt practices to save the public purse. 

She believes a corrupt-free citizenry is “the only way Ghana can be back on track and Ghana can achieve sustainability in its finances.”

She said eradicating corruption in the public sector is very crucial in efforts aimed at changing the destiny of the country. 

Speaking at an engagement with the Agotime Ziope Youth Parliament in the Volta Region to commemorate this year’s International Anti-Corruption Day, she implored Ghanaians to commit to the '3Rs' in the fight against corruption- Resist, Reject and Report. 

She explained that the Coalition is focusing its attention on the youth in its bid to secure a corrupt-free Ghanaian populace in the future, by instilling the disciplines of integrity, accountability and transparency in them. 

“The youth are the future. If the youth do not have the discipline of integrity, If they are not able to demonstrate the discipline of accountability and transparency, then it means that our future will not be assured and it cannot be guaranteed”, she said. 

She outlined plans by the Coalition to rope in students at the basic, second cycle and tertiary institutions in the fight against corruption, to enable them to “commit and unite against corruption.”

The Coalition’s engagement with the Agotime Ziope Youth Parliament at its second sitting focused on the effects of corruption on the distribution of the government’s subsidized fertilizer in the district. 

The youth identified unfair distribution, hoarding and smuggling among other corrupt acts which have led to most farmers being denied access to the Agri input. 

The First Deputy Speaker and Majority Leader of the Youth Parliament, Daniel K. Agbeme, acknowledged the government’s commitment to ending corruption in the country and urged it to intensify its fight to reduce the canker to the barest minimum. 

“We are so much appealing to the government to put some measures in place to help, if not eradicate corruption, we can be able to minimize it to the lowest level”, he said. 

He said the Parliament would engage other youth wings “so that we can be able to stop corrupt practices to boost development in our country.”

The Second Deputy Speaker and Minority Leader, Edem Alator, lamented that corrupt acts have slowed development in the district and affected the “agriculture and even the educational sector”. 

He implored leaders to ensure equitable distribution of the input while entreating citizens to remain vigilant and act as whistle-blowers, to expose corrupt individuals.