NCCE EDUCATES BILINSA COMMUNITY ON ARAP 1st April, 2019
The Municipal Directorate of the National Commission
for Civic Education [NCCE] in the Builsa North Municipality of the Upper East Region,
has concluded a month-long public education on the Accountability, Rule of law
and Anti-corruption Programme [ARAP].
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| An Official [hand raised] At One Of The Sessions |
The ARAP intervention is a European Union
[EU]-sponsored anti-corruption programme being implemented in collaboration
with the Government of Ghana with the NCCE as the lead-implementing agency.
The education campaigns were mainly carried
out in the Bilinsa community of the Municipality during which, selected staff of
the NCCE and staff from partner agencies including the Ghana Police Service and
the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice [CHRAJ], took terms
to sensitise community members on the need for all and sundry to help fight the
menace of corruption in the district and in Ghana, as a whole.
Acting Municipal Director of the NCCE, Mr.
Jeffery Adda who briefed the media at the climax of the ARAP campaigns,
revealed that a similar sensitisation outreach was done in the district in 2018
covering the Wiaga, Siniensi and Chuchliga communities. He disclosed that the
objective of the ARAP intervention is to promote good governance in the country
by reducing corruption and improving accountability while encouraging citizens
to comply with the rule of law.
He added that, the programme formed part of a
nationwide sensitisation exercise being undertaken by sister district offices
of the NCCE. He said as part of the strategies used in the campaigns to derive
maximum impact, his office undertook dusk-to-dawn announcements in target areas
while market days were also targeted and used as the masses often congregated
at such places.
Mr. Adda also disclosed that identifiable
groups, churches and mosques as well as community durbars and other social
gatherings were capitalised on to spread the ideals of the ARAP intervention.
On one such engagement, Mr. Adda noted that, corruption causes under-development
that leads to increased rate of poverty in the country as monies and other
resources meant for the public good, were often syphoned and kept by one person
or by a small group of acquaintances.
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| Members of The Sensitisation Team [standing] |
The Acting NCCE Director also entreated the
community members to discard whatever fears they may have and to report corruption
cases to statutory bodies such as Legal Aid, the Economic and Organised Crime Office
[EOCO], the CHRAJ as well as the Ghana Police Service for prompt and
appropriate action to be taken to right these wrongs in society. He noted that
such brave acts by the citizenry to report on corruption and abuse-of-office
cases, will add more fuel to the anti-corruption fight and also, deter people
who may harbour such tendencies.
In his remarks, the Municipal Police Commander,
Supt. Samuel Ntosoh who is also a member of the campaign team, encouraged the
public to see corruption as a national problem which needs all hands on deck in
order to be dealt with effectively. He gave the assurance that, though a few
bad-nuts in the service have often given the police bad news in the media, the
Ghana Police Service remained an integral partner in the anti-corruption
efforts and was still committed in helping to nib corruption in the bud.
The Commander urged all stakeholders including
state institutions and private citizens to always endeavour to furnish the Police
with credible and reliable information as well as tip-offs. This he noted,
would enable them to hasten investigations relating to corruption as this will
in turn, speed up the prosecution of cases.
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