Anti-Corruption crusaders needs maximum support - Mahama

Former President John Dramani Mahama, has called for support for anti-corruption crusaders in their attempts at fighting corruption.

When given the support, he said, they would be in a position to continue to champion the fight to stem the canker.

Mr. Mahama made the call at the closing of a three-day annual national convention of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission at Pomadze in the Central Region, which was on the theme: Corruption, a threat to national development, peace and security.

The former President was unhappy that some people employed by the state to fight corruption in the system, were themselves being fought by unseen individuals.

“While corruption exists even in the most developed countries, the strength of institutions and the values of transparency, have helped them to reduce corruption to an absolute minimum,” he said, adding, that, to succeed in fighting corruption, the country must strengthen anti-corruption institutions.

He called for funding for those agencies and asked that they be provided with the required human resource base to carry out their job, but above all, those agencies must be granted the autonomy and independence to be able to deal with persons found to have engaged in acts of corruption.

Mr. Mahama condemned attacks on some anti-corruption champions who had dared to question some people in the corridors of power who have been found to have engaged in corrupt deals.

The ex-President asked traditional and religious leaders, civil society and the media, to carry out the obligation of exposing the rot in the system.

Describing corruption fight as not a start and stop enterprise, Mr Mahama said, the fight must be a continuous one and all those who have a role to play must never get tired of exposing and talking about it.

He urged governments to be tolerant and listen to criticism from campaigners who expose corrupt dealings.

The NDC leader said, when elected to serve the people of Ghana again, he would strengthen the asset declaration regime so that the Ghanaians would know the properties of his appointees at the time they are entering office and when they are leaving as captured in the Constitution of the country.

He asked Ghanaians to eschew nepotism and hypocrisy as both bred corruption and said, appointing cronies into governments was very dangerous and appealed to religious heads and traditional authorities to speak against the practice.

He proposed the introduction of the study of civics and responsible citizenship as a non-examinable subjects at the basic and second cycle schools, to inculcate in pupils and students the sense of patriotism.