The North East Gonja District Directorate of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), has engaged women’s groups on the need to promote the rule of law, resist corruption and demand accountability in their communities.
The engagement, held at Fuu with support from the German Development Cooperation, was a follow-up campaign aimed at consolidating the gains made during an earlier engagement and empowering women to become active champions of transparency, accountability and the rule of law.
A total of 52 women drawn from various identifiable groups including hairdressers, dressmakers and market women participated in the engagement.
Madam Martha Bagbin, the North East Gonja District Director, NCCE, urged the participants to raise up against corruption and become agents of positive change in their communities.
Mr Sulemana Fuseini, an Officer of School for Life in the district, who was a resource person, interacted with the participants to assess the impact of the earlier engagement and ascertain how they had applied the knowledge acquired.
Some participants shared experiences of how the previous engagement had empowered them to ask questions and demand clarification on activities they suspected to be corrupt.
They cited instances where they were asked to make certain payments during antenatal and postnatal services and said that after seeking clarification and questioning the payments, some of the monies were refunded to them.
They also demonstrated increased awareness of corrupt practices including giving money or other items to people in positions of authority to access services.
Mr Fuseini encouraged them to apply the principles of the rule of law, resist corrupt practices and demand accountability from duty-bearers.
He urged them to promote ethical practices within their communities and use the knowledge gained to influence others to uphold integrity and transparency.
The participants were also educated on existing legal protection and mechanisms for reporting corruption and encouraged to serve as peer educators and advocates for integrity, accountability and the rule of law within their associations and communities.