Transparency International (TI) Ghana and Honour Ghana have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen integrity, ethical leadership and values-based education as part of efforts to promote transparency, accountability and responsible citizenship in the country.
The agreement, signed in Accra last Friday, seeks to combine the expertise of the two organisations to tackle corruption by strengthening institutions while shaping the values and character of young people and leaders.
The partnership will focus on integrity education in schools and ethical leadership in the private sector through research, advocacy, public education and stakeholder engagement.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, the Executive Director of TI Ghana, Mary Awelana Addah, said the agreement was the beginning of an important partnership that would transform evidence into action.
Ms Addah explained that while TI Ghana had, over the years, worked to build accountable and transparent institutions, experience had shown that laws and institutions alone could not sustain the integrity agenda.
"Corruption continues where dishonesty is excused, where misconduct is normalised, and success is separated from character," she said.
She said the collaboration would, therefore, complement institutional reforms by promoting ethical values among young people and within the business community.
Education, private sector
Ms Addah said the partnership would concentrate on two major sectors — education and the private sector.
She explained that the organisations intended to expand integrity education programmes to at least 100 senior high schools (SHSs) and tertiary institutions across the country, with the aim of reaching more than 20,000 students.
She said the students would be organised into integrity clubs to help nurture ethical behaviour and responsible citizenship.
"We would be actualising this clear vision of partnership to ensure that we promote ethical behaviour, shape value systems and work to reduce corruption drastically in our country," she stated.
The Executive Director further announced that TI Ghana and Honour Ghana would introduce a Ghana Integrity Index for private sector organisations to assess and encourage ethical business practices.
The index, she explained, would recognise organisations demonstrating high ethical standards while encouraging others to improve their corporate governance and integrity systems.
Values, institutions
The Chairman and Founder of Honour Ghana, Dr Emmanuel Odame, said the country's future depended not only on strong institutions but also on strong values.
He said corruption, examination malpractice, declining public trust and weak organisational cultures were symptoms of a gradual erosion of societal values.
"Corruption does not begin in a procurement office. It begins where dishonesty becomes acceptable. It begins when cheating in examinations is normalised. It begins when keeping one's word is no longer considered important," he said.
Dr Odame said the fight against corruption could not be won solely through stronger laws and institutions but must begin with character formation and values-based education.
He said under the partnership, the organisations intended to integrate Honour Ghana's values-based education toolkit into at least 100 SHSs, establish integrity classes and train teachers to facilitate ethical education.
He said they would also engage at least 50 private sector organisations to adopt the Ghana Integrity Index to strengthen ethical leadership, transparency and corporate governance.
