Corruption, according to Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, is a major impediment to God’s plan.
The second gentleman of the land stated that corruption impedes national development and negatively impacts business operations in the country.
The Vice President made the remarks when he graced the opening ceremony of the 59th Annual Session of the Ghana Baptist Convention at Ejura in the Ashanti region under the theme “Fulfilling God’s Purpose, Growing God’s Church”.
He applauded the Church for its continued collaboration with the state to help fight ills in society and also facilitate development.
The corruption he said, thrives in any society that is full of darkness, adding that the current has put in place several measures to deal with the canker.
“One of the key hindrances in fulfilling God’s purpose is corruption. Corruption inhibits economic growth and affects business operations, employment and investments. It also reduces tax revenue and the effectiveness of various financial assistance programmes. The wider society is influenced by a high degree of corruption in terms of lowering of trust in the rule of law, governance and consequently the quality of life,” he noted.
“Corruption thrives in the very nature of the society that we have. It thrives in any society that is full of darkness. So much so that when there is darkness so much is hidden; you cannot tell who is who.
“In a society where you have this type of darkness prevailing, when you cannot tell the identity of a person, then corruption can thrive. One can even go and borrow money from a bank and later change their name and then go to another bank to borrow. You have no sense of where people are or finding where they are because address systems do not exist. So banks charge high-interest rates.
“People who are supposed to collect revenues for government steal from government when cash is paid,” he continued. “People do not file their taxes. People try to register minors to vote and there’s general indiscipline in this type of system; because it is full of darkness there is no transparency and therefore corruption thrives.”
He added that corruption affects the trust people have in the rule of law, governance and quality of life.
He said the systems and policies being implemented by the Akufo-Addo Government are designed to shine the light of transparency into the dark corners that breed corruption while aggressively accelerating national development.
“You fight corruption with systems, you do not fight corruption with rhetoric; and so, in this regard we have been trying to put systems in place; we’re trying to identify everybody uniquely and that is why we’re issuing the GhanaCard. Every property has a digital address. Today there is no need to pay a bribe for your passport. No ‘goro’ boys are involved in passport acquisition; you go online you pay for it; and it can even be delivered to your house.
“Driver’s license is also very simple, it’s one of the most advanced systems that we have implemented in the world and therefore you don’t need any ‘goro’ boy to get a driver’s license.
“Through your mobile phone you can renew your NHIS membership card; you don’t need to pay anybody a bribe. You can top up your electricity on your mobile phone. The same goes with the digitized Registrar General’s office for the fast acquisition of one’s documents.
“Today, you cannot obtain fake Motor insurance certificates anymore. If I look at a driver’s license plate I can dial 92057# and I will know whether that car is insured or not.”
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
