The Arrupe Jesuit Institute (AJI) and the Catholic Professional Guilds (CPG) are set to hold a town hall meeting on the fight against corruption.
The event which is on the Theme “Combatting the Virus of Corruption in our Country: My Commitment as a Christian Professional” will be held on August 19, at Christ the King Parish Hall, Cantonments in Accra.
Speakers scheduled for the event include Former Auditor General, Daniel Yaw Domelevo, Sr. Regina Aflah, HDR, CEO of Dalex Finance, Kenneth Thompson as well as Executive Director of the National Population Council, Dr. Leticia Appiah.
According to the institute, the move has become expedient due to the fact that the fight against corruption has mainly been done by talks and little action.
“We’ve talked too much about corruption; way too much. It’s time we did something about it. That’s precisely why we are gathered here this evening. To move beyond the talk and begin the walk in combatting corruption, which we identify, so appropriately to today’s context, as a virus,” A statement signed the the Director of the institute, Rev. Fr. Kpanie Addy said.
“For virus it is, like covid-19 – virulent, raging, insidious, widespread, costly, and even lethal. For the corrupt officials who knowingly permit contaminated or expired food items to enter the market because they have received their cut are no less responsible for the deaths that issue from this action than the tradespeople who supplied the items. This virus has fatal consequences,” it added.
“Who are this “we” that have talked too much about corruption and now must act
concretely to combat it? We, Ghanaians and particularly, we, Christians in Ghana. The last population census of 2010 revealed that about 71% of the Ghanaian population profess Christianity. Some have argued then that if Ghana and Ghanaians are corrupt, then Christians have a huge role to play in this. Indeed, Christians in Ghana are either actively involved in corruption or are shirking their Christian commitment to stand up for fairness, truth, justice,” the statement further noted.
“”Virtues in line with the teachings of Jesus Christ who Christians profess as their Lord and Master. We are gathered also as professionals – bankers, lawyers, auditors, academics, clergy, politicians, creative artists, health professionals, etc. In this regard, we are familiar with the codes and ethics guiding our professions. Yet, as Ghanaians, we are equally well acquainted with various cultural norms and social conventions that generally weaken these principles of our professional
practice.
Are we able to identify and expose certain aspects of Ghanaian cultural and social life
that constitute disvalues in our fight against the virus of corruption? Can we do away with them?
To help us undertake this necessary self-introspection leading to conversion, we have
assembled four Ghanaian Christian professionals. Their task is to initiate the debate; to stimulate thinking and even to proffer some concrete proposals for the needed action on this matter. However, we intend to foster a process of collective healthy interaction: A town hall meeting.
This must not be a talk shop. We should leave here with concrete proposals for our joint action. For our part, we, the organizers intend to compile the clear proposals we hope shall emerge with from our interaction and pass these on to the apex bodies of our respective Christian denominations for their consideration, with the view that whatever they find helpful they may in turn commend to their membership as useful aids to combat the virus of corruption in Ghana,” the statement noted.
