President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Thursday launched the evaluation of Ghana's maiden National Anti-Corrup­tion Action Plan (NACAP), urging stakeholders and citizens to unite and support the fight against graft. He stressed that anti-corruption initiatives in the country required the collaborative efforts of the public, private, and civil society sectors to guarantee good governance, transparency, and accountability. NACAP is a ten-year strategic plan adopted in 2012 as part of a coordinated policy document for combating corruption in the country. The plan is structured around four thematic areas including building capacity to condemn and fight corruption and make it a high risk and low gain activity, institutionalising efficiency, accountability and transparency in the public, private and not for profit sectors, engaging individuals, media, and civil society organisations in reporting and combating corruption and conducting effective investigations and prosecution of corrupt conduct. The Plan had 135 broad activities for implementation by stakeholders towards the realisation of the 4 strategic objectives. The evaluation report, which will inform the second phase of the plan, is expected to be completed in June 2024. President Akufo-Addo noted that though the state held the primary responsibility to implement robust anti-corruption measures, the fight against graft cannot be solely won by the government but by the united efforts of all sectors of society. He stated that corruption knew no limits and that its negative repercussions are seen across society, not only the public sector, adding that the raft of measures instituted by his government to ensure that the institutions of state relevant to the anti-corruption agenda are properly equipped to discharge their mandate reflected his resolve to fight corruption to the hilt. President Akufo-Addo emphasised that after almost ten years of implementing NACAP, there was a need to understand how the action plan had contributed to reducing corruption in G hana. This would enable the necessary adjustments to policies and institutional arrangements based on the evaluation results. The President said the evaluation exercise was important to assess the contribution of NACAP to the fight against corruption in all spheres and to form the basis of developing the next Plan for the period 2025 to 2034. He underscored the significance of the exercise, given the enormity of the work of reviewing anti-corruption actions and methods, and urged all stakeholders to support the effort. 'Fighting corruption is a shared responsibility. This is why we must all see the evaluation of the maiden NACAP and the development of NACAPII as the responsibility of all stakeholders in this nation, citizens and non-citizens alike.' The NACAP will be evaluated by a team of experts. The team is led by the Statistical Service and supported by international evaluators from the UNODC to gauge the exercise with global best practices to guarantee credibility. The President was optimistic that a high-quality evaluation of NACAP would be conducted using a wide range of information sources with several appropriate methods and tools He said the evaluation results would promote accountability and integrity. 'I urge all stakeholders to give the exercise the priority it deserves to ensure a successful evaluation…Let us embrace it as a beneficial learning tool rather than a threatening scrutiny,' he said. Mr. Emmanuel Adumua-Bossman, Deputy Chief of Staff at the Presidency and Chairman of the NACAP High-Level Implementation Committee, stated that the Plan, which had been in place since 2009, would concretize the plethora of anti-corruption measures that the country has worked to achieve to ensure resilience against corruption. He stated that the NACAP, which requires a complete examination, required stakeholders to commit to delivering a comprehensive, reliable, and feasible action plan by the end of the process in June 2024. 'Our goal is to ensure that at the end of this evaluation, Ghana would be r eady to implement NACAP II and thereby consolidate our gains made under the current dispensation,' he said. Mr Richard Quayson, Deputy Commissioner, Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice and Vice Chairman of the NACAP High-level Implementation Committee told the gathering that the programme had played a pivotal role in strengthening Ghana's commitment to the ideals of transparency, accountability, and integrity over the past 9 years. He said corruption was still a major threat to sustainable development because it continued to undermine good governance and the rule of law, eroded public confidence in the merit rewards system, fostered public sector incompetence and ineptitude, promoted poor inefficient service delivery, and perpetuated poverty and underdevelopment. 'We, in Ghana, are familiar with the devastating effects of corruption, hence the Mission of NACAP to mobilise the efforts and resources of all stakeholders to prevent and combat corruption,' 'The importance of National Action P lans, especially those focused on anti-corruption, cannot be overemphasised. For us in Ghana, the development and implementation of NACAP since 2015 has been a collective endeavour. From government agencies to civil society, from the private sector to everyday citizens, it has indeed been a 'United Ghana Against Corruption,' he said. Mr Quayson said though the evaluation of the NACAP would lay the foundation for the development of a NACAP II, 'we must see NACAP II as not just a continuation, but an opportunity to consolidate the gains and commitment we have made in the fight against corruption.' 'It is an opportunity to refine our approaches, address emerging threats, and engage a broader spectrum of stakeholders to ensure inclusivity and effectiveness,' he said. Mr Quayson urged all stakeholders to actively participate in the exercise to ensure that NACAP II reflects the aspirations and needs of all Ghanaians. 'If we approach the evaluation of NACAP with a commitment to continuous improvement, together, we will pave the way for a more transformative NACAP II that repositions our People for nation building,' he said. Source: Ghana News Agency