Kumasi, April 20, GNA - Mr Richard Quayson, Deputy Commissioner of Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), has stated that Ghana is not the most corrupt country neither it is the first country to grapple with the issue of corruption.

He pointed out that most developed and advanced nations had had their share of corruption but made calculated and calibrated efforts to come out of corruption.

Speaking at a training workshop to promote awareness and support for the new guidelines on conflict of interest in Kumasi on Thursday, Mr Quayson stated that "The nation is not destroyed because there is corruption here. It is destroyed if we fail or refuse to deal with and come out of corruption".

The three-day workshop is being organized by CHRAJ and the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) to examine ways to successfully implement the guidelines through public education and awareness creation.

Mr Quayson said there could not be corruption without conflict of interest and added that the Constitution identified conflict of interest as the first point of call for fighting corruption.

He stressed the need for Ghanaians to stop always talking about corruption and take necessary measures that would help address it.

"If we really are serious about corruption, then let us walk the talk and put our money where our mouth is instead of spending all our precious time on fruitless vituperations. We are becoming so good at throwing accusations and counter accusations at each other, at who is more corrupt instead of working together to confront corruption head-on. But what is even more disturbing is the alacrity with which we demonise the nation when we see foreigners, especially whites as if corruption is colour-related", Mr Quayson emphasized.

He said other countries which had worse problems with corruption had been able to come out of it and called on Ghanaians to put politics aside and institute and support measures that would rid the nation out of corruption.

Mrs Linda Ofori-Kwafo, acting Executive Secretary of GII, said Ghana last year scored 3.3 per cent as against 3.5 per cent in 2005 on the Corruption Perception Index launched by the Transparency International.

This, she said indicated that corruption was worsening in the country and called for a concerted efforts to fight it.