By Prince Musa in Kenema
A local Non-Governmental Organization, People’s Power Movement (PPM), has engaged school pupils and head teachers in Kenema on the essence of supporting the fight against corruption in the country.
The program which was held on Friday was part of the commemoration of the International Anti-Corruption Day. Pupils and teachers from five different schools in the district were targeted for the one day sensitization programme.
At the opening ceremony, the chairman of PPM, Patrick Adu, said the movement decided to engage the school pupils in order to prepare their minds at an earlier stage that it is bad to engage in corruption.
“We want to catch the children young and let them see corruption as a bad thing. The present youths are suffering today because of corruption over the decade and our country has been backward as a result of bad and corrupt leaders,” Adu said.
Adu also praised the efforts of the ACC so far in fighting against corruption.
“The issue of corruption has become a sickness to the nation, but under the present leadership of the ACC, the Commission has made success in fighting corruption,” he said.
A representative of the ACC in the district, Sam Geogra, said: “Corruption is becoming alarming in schools as ACC got a lot of complaints that certain schools were asking for fifty thousand Leones for BECE results.”
He warned school authorities present against corruption in their schools. Geogra referenced the new amended ACC Act which has given the commission more powers to deal with corrupt officials.
Money for examination results is just one of the many corrupt acts schools in the district are thought to be engaged in. Schools have also been accused of condoning examination malpractice and inflating their school rolls to attract high school subsidy from government.
Geogra said these are things the ACC has already started to look in to.
“ACC is investigating a head teacher that floated the roll of his pupils in school just to get high subsidy. The public will soon be updated with that,” he said.
Adu committed his organization’s support to fight against corruption through sensitization and discussion in schools across the district.
Copyright © 2019 Politico Online
