President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has stated that it is not right to blame only politicians for corruption and that the canker is all over the place. According to him, it is not only headline corruption, the type that involves politicians and high-profile figures that retards progress and hinders development, but others as well.
The President said this on Thursday, July 13, 2023 when he opened the 2023 World Convention of the Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship International, held in Accra.
President Akufo-Addo stated among other things that breaking rules and regulations, building without permit and bribing the police, all corrupt society.
“It is worth bearing in mind that it is not only the headline corruption, the type that involves politicians and high-profile figures that retards our progress and hinders our development.
“Indeed, it is about breaking rules and regulations in many aspects of our lives, wanting to and circumventing the laws that are meant to guide our society.
“It has to do with driving recklessly, breaking all the traffic regulations and trying to bribe the police officer when you are pulled up. It has to do with not getting the proper permit to build a house. It has to do with looking the other way when something wrong is going on.
“It has to do with the degradation of our environment and the pollution of our atmosphere and our water bodies. It has to do with petty bribery and corruption and it has to do with bribery and corruption on a grand scale,” he stated.
COUNTER-CULTURE
According to the President, people tend to point fingers and grumble about sleaze, though there are a significant number of Christians who could help create a counter-culture of honest dealings across countries.
He urged the Christendom to actively involve themselves in dealing with the canker, as the scripture admonishes them to be the salt of the earth.
“Christians cannot afford to sit below the salt. We must be at the forefront with those who hold onto hope and do our bid to ensure that the encircling doom and gloom in our world is lifted.
While commending the FGBMI for the convention, which revives the spiritual lives of Christians, President Akufo-Addo insisted that such should reflect in their dealings outside of the church.
LEGISLATION
The President maintained that corruption was not an exclusively African phenomenon, but a situation all nations of the world are grappling with.
However, he opined that the fight against it should be grounded in legislative, financial and institutional action and “not just lip service.”
He remarked that nations that have been successful in fighting the canker have done so with a robust legal system underpinned by the rule of law, protected the public purse, made institutional reforms, enacted additional requisite laws and resourced the accountability organs of state more adequately.
The three-day convention, held on the theme: “Empowered for Service,” was the second such event to be held in Africa and the first for Ghana by the world’s largest Christian businessmen organization in the entire 71 years of the fellowship.
Over 2000 businessmen and women from across the world participated in the conference. They deliberated on leveraging their services effectively to develop their respective countries.
