Former Auditor General, Daniel Yao Domelevo has cautioned against what he described as the auctioning of public positions where people fund political parties in return for appointments in the public service.
According to him, this development may pave the way for unqualified people and criminals to find their way into the public system for their parochial interests.
Speaking at the maiden edition of the Leadership Ethics Seminar in Ho organised by the Africa Ethics Institute, he called for the establishment of meritocracy in the public sector.
“We are in an election year, which I term auction year. We are auctioning public offices. So the highest bidder wins the auction at the end of the day. If we don’t look at this auctioning of public offices seriously, what may happen is that, very soon we will have people who are drug pushers funding our election and so will compromise our integrity. It is also possible that terrorists will fund our politicians into office and we will be in trouble”, he said.
He lamented the high incidents of corruption in the country, adding that the canker has become a religion.
Mr. Domelevo called for the establishment of an efficient public financial management system, and fiscal decentralisation among other measures to eliminate corruption and protect the public purse.
He advocated for reorganising and retooling of the anti-corruption institutions to enable them to deliver their mandates efficiently, adding that “they are too many”.
Mr. Domelevo said the fight against corruption must be “commercialised” where whistleblowers should be allowed to help fight the canker in partnership with anti-corruption institutions.
He also called for the stringent enforcement of the asset declaration law and implementing a lifestyle audit of public officers to put them in check.
He opined that to curb corrupt practices, the country’s leaders should be held accountable for corrupt acts, indicating that “Ghana needs ethical and transformational leaders”.
The Director of the Africa Ethics Institute, Israel Laryea lamented the decaying of moral values and high temptations of engaging in corruption due to low-income levels in the country.
This he said informed the decision to establish the Africa Ethics Institute to help impact ethics in the younger generation to enable them to uphold their values.
“We all complain about the moral decadence, but it is because we are not paying attention to the young ones and how we can set them on the right path. And so that is the whole idea of this Institute”, he said.
He entreated the youth to establish multiple income streams to enable them to reject the strong temptation of engaging in corruption.
A Dentist and Author, Ruby Yayra Goka entreated the participants who are student leaders to uphold ethics and equip themselves with self-awareness, confidence, and efficacy while eschewing from corruption and unethical activities.
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