|
Prez Mills calls on Ghanaians abroad to
join the battle against corruption
By Masahudu Ankiilu Kunateh,
Ghanadot
President John Vans Atta Mills has called on
Ghanaians living abroad to take active part
in the fight against corruption in the
country, saying the nature of the menace
required all citizens to be involved.
President Mills, who made the call during an
interaction with members of the Ghanaian
community in Denmark, at Copenhagen, the
Danish capital on Friday evening, urged
Ghanaians living outside to insist on their
right and desist from paying bribes,
particularly at the ports when they returned
to Ghana.
The President, who has since returned home,
said it was unfortunate that many, Ghanaians
living abroad willingly paid bribes to cut
corners during transactions back in Ghana,
stressing that they could, in their own
small ways, contribute to the fight against
corruption by desisting from such practices.
Responding to questions on measures by the
government to tackle corruption, President
Mills gave the assurance that his
administration was giving priority to the
war on corruption, which he described as
“very destructive to society”.
He said, although it was true
that corruption should first be tackled from
leadership, since “a fish gets rotten from
the head, it is not a fight for the
President alone, but a fight that we must
all engage in.
“It is not going to be easy, but we have to
start from somewhere, “he said.
He assured Ghanaians abroad
that the government was not leaving anything
to chance in the fight against corruption.
Recognizing that poor living conditions were
a recipe for corruption, he said the
government was doing everything possible to
enhance the economy to better the lot of the
people.
That, he said, was the prime reason for
which the government was voted into power,
and his administration would surely deliver
on that obligation. He was optimistic that
the national economy stood a better chance
of a brighter future, emphasizing, “we
believe 2010 will be far better than 2009.”
He said although there were enormous
challenges confronting the economy when his
administration took over last January, the
challenges did not daunt his team but rather
toughened them to take on more demanding
tasks.
Touching on the oil find, President Mills
assured that adequate measures were being
instituted to ensure that the revenue from
the resource was used for the benefit of the
citizenry.
The President, who was in Denmark to
participate in the high-level meeting at the
United Nations Conference on Climate Change,
also called on Ghanaians abroad direct their
investment to home.
He lauded the sacrifice they continued to
make for the country and their families back
home, and urged them to be good ambassadors
of Ghana, by promoting her as an attractive
investment destination. In addition, he
urged them to provide constructive criticism
to support the government in building a
better Ghana, and assured them of congenial
investment environment and fairness
irrespective of their different background
and political affiliations.
“We are not claiming perfection or
infallibility,” the president said and urged
them to be discerning about issues back
home, so that they could take well informed
decisions, and not be carried away by vile
propaganda engineered by the government’s
political opponents.
The Ghanaian community in Denmark, who were
joined by their compatriots from Norway,
Sweden and other Scandinavian countries,
commended President Mills for granting them
the opportunity to interact with him, and
assured his administration of their support.
The leadership of the Ghanaian community
presented a gift to the President.
Ghanadot
|
