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Soon public officials will be under "Code of Conduct" to be
ready this year, says CHRAG
WA, Jan.23, Ghanadot/GNA - The Commission
on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) was
developing a comprehensive Code of Conduct for Public
officials and the draft would be put before the general
public for discussions by the end of this year.
Mr. Richard Quayson, Deputy Commissioner of CHRAJ, who said
this added that, the Commission was also adopting prevention
of corruption and its educational aspect as some of the
strategies it intended to use to achieve its goal of
reducing opportunities for corrupt practices in the
communities.
He was speaking at a Public forum organized by the
Commission at Wa on Wednesday, on the new guidelines on
conflict of interest, which it had developed for public
officials.
Mr Quayson said, "zero tolerance for corruption" was
achievable and as corruption affected everybody in the
society adversely, it was necessary that all citizens joined
hands to eradicate it to pave way for rapid development of
the nation.
On the "Whistle blowers Act", he noted that, corruption took
place in the midst of people and the Act therefore
emboldened people to report to the appropriate authorities
on any unlawful act by public officers in the course of
their duties.
In a speech read on his behalf, the Upper West Regional
Minister, Mr. George Hikah Benson, said the virtues of
transparency and accountability seemed to have eluded the
country since independence despite efforts by various
governments to instil them in the society.
He said the NPP government has demonstrated this commitment
to fighting corruption by enacting the Public Procurement,
Financial Administration and the Internal Audit Acts but
their effectiveness would depend on the vigilance of every
citizen.
He observed that, while the general public had limited
access to information, public officers often felt reluctant
to give out information for certain reasons and that trend
retarded progress and development of the nation.
GNA
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