WELL SPOKEN, BISHOP (FEB 18)

ALL governments are making conscious efforts to promote transparency in the management of public affairs. This is because for some time now the focus has been on the promotion of good governance as a pre-requisite for enhancing living standards.
Good governance is essentially about the management and allocation of a country’s scarce resources. In Africa and most developing countries, the major challenge has been governments’ inability to manage the scarce resources for the betterment of the people.
The twin evils of bribery and corruption have eaten deep into the fabric of society. Unfortunately, we have been quick at pointing accusing fingers at our leaders for the suffocating effects of bribery and corruption.
It is in this context that the DAILY GRAPHIC agrees with the Most Rev (Dr) Justice Offei-Akrofi, the Anglican Bishop of Accra and Primate of the Province of West Africa, that non-politicians are more corrupt.
Speaking at this year’s Bible Sunday, he said the highest form of corruption was the lackadaisical approach of Ghanaians to work, adding that “most Ghanaians report to work late and yet receive their full salaries at the end of the month. We often deceive ourselves that it is only politicians who are corrupt, ... by their attitude to work, non-politicians are more corrupt”.
At a certain stage in our immediate past history, we had a slogan, “You are part of the problem, be part of the solution. Don’t sit on the fence, it will break,” and yet, oftentimes, we have left the serious business of state to a few people.
The paradox of our situation is that while we are in a political dispensation that requires the active participation of all to achieve the desired effect, most people have resigned themselves to their fate, living political activists to determine the fate of all.
Majority of the people are concerned about themselves and their immediate families and have concluded that state business or state property belongs to nobody and, therefore, nobody cares.
The fight against corruption can be won only if everybody plays a part in the struggle. It is also necessary to point out that our traditional values have certain inherent strengths but we tend to abuse them to create fertile grounds for bribery and corruption to flourish.
Some politicians are always accused of nepotism, favouritism and cronyism because of the pressures on them to satisfy family members, friends and schoolmates.
It is not easy for politicians to ignore these pressures because the political system encourages rent seeking to the disadvantage of merit and capability.
The DAILY GRAPHIC appeals to all Ghanaians to desist from putting pressure on politicians to extend certain favours to them when we know such actions tend to corrupt our public officials. Strictly speaking, all Ghanaians have contributed in one way or another to our present predicament. Our attitude to work leaves much to be desired. We flout rules and regulations and we have abandoned our values and traditions.
We, therefore, call on all to resolve to assist our politicians to break the back of corruption so that national resources can be freed to improve the lives of Ghanaians for the better.