The lack of ethical values such as honesty, integrity, and truthfulness among the youth is the main cause of rise of corruption in the country, the chairperson of the African Union Advisory Board Against Corruption (AUABC), Mr Kwami Edem Senanu, has stated.
He, has, therefore, called for the integration of such ethical values into the education curriculum of the country to help the fight against corruption.
Mr Senanu, who was part of two other panellists said this at a national dialogue organised by the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) in Accra yesterday.
The other two panellists were the Executive Director of the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), Mrs Mary Awelana Addah, and the former Dean of the University of Ghana Business School, Professor Justice Bawole.
It was under the theme, “Empowering Citizens, Promoting Accountability.”
Mr Senanu said, “We have to be intentional about the integration of ethical values into our school curricula. The countries that are doing well start from pre-school by creating fun games to show this is right and this is wrong and also reward those who do the right things.”
“In the past, we had a strong civic education, but now we don’t have that again. We need to be intentional because our challenge now is very big. So let’s make sure that our young have a strong sense of what is right and what is wrong,” he added.
He further emphasised the need to ensure law enforcement, where individuals who were involved in corrupt activities did not go unpunished, but were made to face the law.
Prof. Bawole bemoaned the widespread corruption that went on in the various sectors of the country and therefore urged the citizenry to train their children in ways that would not allow them to engage in corrupt activities.
He also urged the citizenry to restrain from taking advantage of privilege and set personal standards and targets for themselves and report corrupt activities to appropriate institutions.
For her part, Mrs Addah said it was important for the country to address the issue of political party campaign financing by regulating the political campaigns by political actors as the current Political Parties Act did not adequately deal with the issue.
She called for the reduction in campaign period, adding that, “If we reduce the period of campaign, you will not need the resources you will ordinarily need to constitute an agenda of more than three years.”
The Deputy Chairman, General Services, NCCE, Mr Victor K. Brobbey, in his welcome address, said that without a renewed sense of integrity, moral leadership, and justice, the country could not fight corruption.
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