The Ga West NCCE has admonished residents and school pupils of Mayira in Ga West Municipal of the Greater Accra Region to show interest in the whistleblower mechanism by reporting acts of corruption in the area.
The Commission also urged members of the public to be interested in social audit of development projects within their communities in the interest of the nation.
Speaking at a forum put together to interact the residents, deputy Director of NCCE in charge of Programmes, Madam Joanna Nkansah said citizens owed the state a duty to report improprieties by public officials and institutions to appropriate investigative agencies, regardless of who is involved.
She said the persistence of corruption and the unlawful acts in both public and private sector in the country is due to the failure of citizens to play their watchdog role of alerting enforcement institutions of improprieties.
“There is the need for citizens to be abreast with policies implemented by government or duty bearers in order to hold them accountable and ensure there is value for money in everything they do. If there is a project ongoing in your area, they are supposed to put out a signboard and write the name of the contractor, the project the cost and other details to enable citizens monitor, but in many cases this is not done”
Meanwhile the Municipal Director of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) Mrs Araba Awua Boateng has bemoaned the failure to effectively use the whistleblower act to empower citizens to expose acts of corruption and wrong doing.
She disclosed there are provisions under the whistleblower act that prescribe protection for informants and called on the Ghana police service to ensure whistleblowers are given the protection they deserve.
The acting director of the NCCE in Ga West Mabel Munufie said her office has received several complaints about the protection of informants and is hopeful security agencies will up their act in that regard while the NCCE continues to engage with communities within the Municipality on the importance of the whistleblower in the fight against corruption.
Participants at the ceremony included Assemblyman for the Mayera Hon Appiah, chiefs and other opinion leaders.
Story by: Osman Abadoo/Radiogoldlive.com
