In the strategic fight to ward off corruption down the road, placing more focus on shaping the mindset of children and youths is stressed crucial as it is significant in scaling down the ever mounting challenge of corruption, noted public relation and Communication team leader at FRDE anti-corruption Commission Kebebe Dadei.
As it is true of the rest of the world, a national anti-corruption day was recently celebrated in Ethiopia. It was for the 16th time it was celebrated here underlining the exigency of rooting out corrupt practices and exercising corporate responsibilities taking on board private business persons, government officials and other stakeholders to hack way through the network of corrupters.
Every year the international anti-corruption day is celebrated almost in all countries of the world as per the common agreement each country appended its signature to. Regarding Ethiopia The Ethiopian Federal Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (FEACC) will keep on marking this year’s celebration in unprecedented ways incorporating at the kernel fighting corporate corruption along with actors in the private sector, government officials and others stockholders in weeding out corrupters and arresting their underhand tactics for the common benefit of Ethiopian citizens, he noted.
According to Kebebe, Ethiopia has embraced human capital development in a bid to improve service sectors like Education, Health, Agriculture, Tourism, etc. The country has chalked out a ten-year national development plan in education, construction, health, agriculture and other sectors, whose improvement will support the country’s growth and development aspirations that must be unshackled from the web of corruption, he added.
In this regard, the theme for reflection and issues for discussion, in connection with the Day in Addis Ababa, would be “build good-ethics, secure peace and development.” Corruption is a complex social, political and economic phenomenon that affects all aspects of countries. Corruption undermines democratic institutions, bogs down economic development, aggravates instability and in general mars the relationship of people.
Corruption attacks the foundation of democratic institutions by distorting electoral processes, disturbing the rule of law and creating bureaucratic labyrinth whose existence is attributed to bribes. Economic development suffers setbacks because FDI is discouraged and small businesses within the country often find it impossible to manage “ From the outset the country will incur unnecessary costs given the entire corrupted leaders and communities,” Furthermore, religious institutions and local media institutions should work hard to stamp out corruption. The latter are expected to conduct investigative journalistic work, he noted.
As we know media has a great power to drag into light corrupt practices and somewhat contain it. A conspicuous gap in this respect is witnessed in the Ethiopia’s media, which is seen giving more focus to other things, he added.
“All the acts of corruption are attributable to ethical lapses in general. To giving it a lasting solution in the long run, as the saying goes the child is the father of the man works will be done to wield influence on children and youths parallel to monitoring the activities of higher officials.”.
At the country level, the anti-corruption commission has set the verification of asset and property as new procedures to fight out improprieties. The verification could serve as a good starting momentum of the campaign mounted.
The Ethiopian Herald Sunday Edition, December 22/2019
BY MUSSA MUHAMMED
