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All over the world, corruption is a topic of national interest. In Ghana, it is more like a national anthem. We wake up every day to hear our radio and television sets buzzing with panel discussions on corruption allegations, corrupt practices and corruption related activities.
There are also issues and allegations of corruption on our social media with comment and criticisms from the hypocritical Ghanaian. We have people who have been either participants or beneficiaries of corrupt practices raising their eyebrows and lashing out at alleged corrupt individuals. At least it is good, since it shows our rejection and hatred for that evil act called corruption.
However, it is not proper to remove the plank in another’s eye and leave the speck in one’s eye. I believe that if we were all to remove the speck in our eyes Ghana and for that matter, the world would be a corrupt-free place to leave.
Sometimes, the news of corruption in our public institutions strike us as country and we wonder who and which institutions to trust. Is it the auditor, the police or soldier, the judge or lawyer, the religious leaders, the parliamentarians, the executive, the journalist or tiger eye (Anas).
The truth and fact of the matter is that corruption is with us. We live with it in our homes, schools, churches and work places and we cannot trust anyone to deal with it except ourselves. We simply lack the confidence, morality and temerity to deal with it. We see it every day yet we seem helpless in rooting out the canker.
Some students organize themselves in an examination room as if they are playing a football match, just to "pass answers" and not football yet they say “our leaders are corrupt”. Some auditors drop audit findings for cash and say findings are not pervasive enough. Some health practitioners sell drugs and consumables provided for the hospitals by government for personal gain, while administering some to their family and friends.
Some teachers/lectures would leak exam questions to student (female student) in return for sexual pleasure. Some pastors hide behind the Holy Book and drain their congregants of their little resources. Some national service personnel would take the monthly allowance but refuse to be at post. Some journalist decline to publish nation-saving stories for money and give the excuse that they choose which stories to publish.
We now have a "Public-Private Partnership" (PPP) agreement in corruption where people in private businesses connive and collude with public authorities to inflate prices of goods or service supplied. These are just a few of the corrupt practices we are faced with as a nation.
Those engaged in these corrupt acts can be found in families, churches and mosques. They are our brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers, aunties and uncles, nephew and nieces, grandfathers and grandmothers and one may probably be a beneficiary of their corrupt act knowingly or unknowingly.
Therefore, I ask, who is worthy to deal with corruption? If you are worthy and I am worthy then we can deal with corruption and root it out. Can you tell the son or daughter of yours, the mother or father of yours or the friend you know to put a stop to those corrupt acts? If we are able to do that as people, we will surely go far in this fight against corruption.
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