Vice-President John Mahama has underscored the need for the enforcement of various legislations aimed at ensuring probity and accountability in the country. Government, he said, had shown commitment to fighting corruption in the system with the enactment of several subsidiary legislations, but what was left was their strict enforcement to deter people who dipped their hands into the public purse. Vice-President Mahama said this when participants of a USAID-assisted training programme on Anti-corruption and Good Governance called on him at the Castle, Osu, in Accra on Thursday. The participants, drawn from Ghana, Nigeria, Mali, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, are undergoing an orientation seminar in Ghana prior to a five-week training programme on issues of governance at the Les Aspin Centre for Government, University of Marquette, Washington DC . Vice-President Mahama stressed that the government was committed to ensuring that public officials who misappropriated funds were punished to serve as a deterrent to others. Consequently, he stated that the government remained committed, within the budgetary constraints, to increasing funding to anti-corruption and other institutions of governance to enable them to carry out their mandate effectively. “We need to continue educating and creating awareness; we need to put in place mechanisms to ensure that people are accountable,” Mr. Mahama said, emphasizing the need for the citizenry to participate in and be watchdogs on issues of governance. He mentioned the work of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament which is currently going round the regions to ensure that public institutions account for their stewardship based on the Auditor-General’s Report, as one of the safeguards put in place to check corruption . Giving the assurance that Ghana would continue to take measures that would deepen democracy and good governance, Vice-President Mahama pointed out that regular elections, government by constitution, and respect for human rights were the way to go for Africa. He expressed satisfaction that Africa was making progress in that regard and commended the efforts being made by the Les Aspin Centre to take Africa further in the direction of good governance and democracy. Reverend Father Timothy O’Brien, Director of the Les Aspin Centre, said the participants, who were nominated by USAID, comprise personnel from government and civil society organizations working in the area of anti-corruption and the administration of justice. They also include personnel from the print and electronic media, educational institutions, human rights and women’s development organisations, central and local government agencies and departments. Dr. Cephas Lerewonu, Coordinator of Africa Programmes at the centre, said about 70 Ghanaians had participated in the course which began about ‘16 years ago. ‘ One of the goals of the training programme, he said, would be to explore, analyse and develop ways to make private and public sector entities, stewards and institutions more accountable to the public trust in performance, management and public delivery settings. “As one-dimension of proving accountability, the training will provide participants with skill enhancement training on how corruption can be managed, and with what tools, in order to allow private and public sector entities to function more effectively,” he said. Source: The Ghanaian Times