“To me corruption has left the realm of criminality to evil and must be punished. Where corrup­tion thrives, poverty and non-pros­perity thrives. Corruption is filthy, it is a despicable act of treachery and keeps a nation like ours from true development,” he stressed.

The Okyenhene was speaking at a public lecture on “Transforma­tional leadership in contemporary Ghana” held at the University of Ghana in Accra on Wednesday.

Organised by the Graduate Stu­dents Association of the University and dovetailing into the 25th anni­versary celebration of his ascension to the Akyem Abuakwa stool, the empowerment and leadership lecture was aimed at inspiring lead­ership to deal with contemporary challenges facing the country and the world at large.

Describing corruption as a global pandemic with dire consequences for developing countries like Gha­na, his Royal Majesty bemoaned how successive leadership of the nation have dealt with the canker with kids gloves.

This, he observed was despite in­cessant advocacy by civil society on the need for leadership to uphold integrity, truth and accountability to restore hope among Ghanaians.

“It irks me to find that public officers go to the coffers to take monies to book flights to same countries and people who once colonised and stole from us and we must stop it,” he maintained.

Touching on the economy, the Okyenhene criticised the fiscal indiscipline by government that has plunged the country into “econom­ic slavery.”

He said the resort to the Inter­national Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank for bailout contin­ues to place the nation at the mercy of their terms and conditions.

“I do not blame the govern­ment for looking to get money somewhere but once you go for that money you lose your right to bargain. Economic slaves do not own property and often are made to settle for less as they do not think they deserve more.

“Once you go for an IMF bailout, you lose your bargaining power and then you negotiate out of fear or you fear to negotiate. So, when we are broke and we bring in the IMF and the World Bank, rightfully so, they come in with their conditions and that’s why you wonder why we have some of these ridiculous mining and mineral laws that take away our birth right,” he said.

The Okyenhene pointed out that it was a result of such circumstanc­es that the country had lost out on developmental initiatives like the fight against illegal mining (galam­sey).

Challenging Ghanaians to de­mand for change and not be afraid to voice their concerns, Osagyefo Ofori Panin further encouraged the citizenry not to renege on their individual contributions to making Ghana great and strong once again.