She said the practices such as bribery, nepotism, cronyism and favouritism were preventing the nation from meeting its economic and social needs such as potable water, road, schools, hospitals and housing among others.

The District Director, who is also the Queen Mother of Bazua in the Bawku Traditional Area, made the observation during a stakeholders’ forum on “Transparency and Accountability,” organized by the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) at the Chief’s palace in the Bongo District.

The forum, which was sponsored by the European Union (EU), was aimed at getting the support of the chiefs to help fight corruption.The forum assembled 42 divisional and sub chiefs and 17 Queen mothers including the elders of the Traditional Council.

Ms Ndego indicated that the fight against corruption was difficult and government alone could not handle it, hence the NCCE was constitutionally mandated to complement the fight against the canker and called for collective efforts from all the stakeholders and the citizenry in the fight against the phenomenon.

Whilst urging the traditional rulers to support the NCCE in the fight because they wielded much influence in the respective jurisdictions, the District Director disclosed that her outfit put in place a number of programmes to sensitize more identifiable groups including Assembly members, market women, religious leaders, the youth among others in the District, all aimed at mitigating the issue.

Mr Amos Ayuure, the District Director of the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), mentioned that  bureaucratic and petty corruption such as lateness to work and closing early from work were among the major factors of  corruption and impressed upon people to use the” Whistle Blower’s law” by reporting people involved in corruption to the appropriate authorities.

He cited many instances where many traders engaged in corrupt acts by under measuring food stuff such as millet, maize, beans in bowls and selling them at cut throat prices to consumers, describing such act as part of the “petty corruption.”

Most of the chiefs and the queen mothers at the programme attributed the shoddy works by many contractors particularly the construction of schools, health and road projects in the area to bribery, where majority of the contractors seeking for contracts have to pay 10 per cent before being awarded the contract.

Naba Baba Salifu Aleemyarum, the Paramount Chief of the Bongo Traditional Area, explained the Traditional Council’s support to the course of the Commission, indicating that more platforms such as durbars and festivities would be offered to the Commission to sensitize the people on the nature, cause and effects of corruption and how each person could contribute to reduce it.

The Paramount Chief who is also a former staff of the Commission schooled his divisional, sub-chiefs, queen mothers and elders of the Traditional Area to eschew corruption and exhibit exemplary leadership and further promised to pay for the cost of the air time for the NCCE to use the Bongo Community Radio Station to preach against the canker.