Koforidua, March 26, GNA - Nana Owusu Gyamadu, a member of the Council of State, has decried the high level of corruption that has permeated all institutions, saying those who should be the conscience of society had rather become active players in institutionalising the vice. He expressed disappointment in people in leadership positions such as pastors and chiefs who were supposed to lead in the crusade against corruption but have rather become the perpetrators. Addressing a two-day Ethics-Workshop for religious bodies and groups in Koforidua, Nana Gyamadu called for drastic measures to check the trend because for him Ghana could become a better place for all only when institutions functioned without corruption. He stressed that the only way to check institutional corruption was to implement monitoring and punitive measures that made corruption unattractive, while enlightening the public on where to seek redress as victims of corruption.

Nana Gyamadu, who is also the Chief of Akyem Anyinase, cited acts such as paying bribes for enstoolment as chiefs, which he said, has resulted in numerous chieftaincy disputes. "It is sad that my own institution is one of the corrupted areas where chiefs instead of being the custodians of tradition rather take bribes and enstool people who are not qualified and sell stool lands indiscriminately to the disadvantage of the people," he lamented. He described as intriguing the creative ways with which pastors take money from their congregations in the name of God, saying corruption and favouritism had characterised posting of pastors. He said it was wrong to assume that corruption was endemic and therefore nothing could be done about it adding that the rate of corruption in the society was rather aggravating the plight of the poor and marginalized.

The Council of State member cited many examples in the public sector, including the practice of public servants making illegal demands for their service.

A former Chaplain-General of the Ghana Prisons Service, the Very Reverend Joseph Appiah-Acheampong, who chaired the function, linked corruption to the break down of morals in institutions and said it was sad to see corrupt practices in churches and other bodies reputed in society.

He mentioned an event in the Bible concerning Jesus and the cured lepers, which had been used as a justification by some pastors in duping and taking monies from their unsuspecting and poor members solely to enrich themselves.

Very Reverend Appiah-Acheampong revealed how on several occasions some pastors used the prison ministry to obtain money from religious and philanthropic organizations to enrich themselves. He said religious bodies had a lot to do in ensuring that at least they would not be associated with corrupt practices to set the needed example for others to emulate.

Participants at the workshop who were drawn from the various religious bodies called for a check on the activities of those pastors and churches whose main objective was to make money through the taking of unwarranted money from their congregation. The workshop was organized on the theme, "Zero Tolerance for Corruption, the role of the religious bodies in Ghana," by the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) in collaboration with the National Catholic Secretariat, Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission and the Christian Council of Ghana.