The students of the Adantia Methodist and Fiapre Methodist Junior High Schools (JHSs) made the call at separate sensitization fora, held at Fiapre and Adantia, as the nation joined the rest of the world to commemorate 2025 International Anti-Corruption Day.  

International Anti-Corruption Day is observed globally on December 9 each year to raise awareness on the effects of corruption and to mobilize citizens and institutions to act against the menace, which remained the bane of accelerated national development.  

They said anti-corruption agencies and institutions ought to be resourceful enough to execute their respective constitutional mandates and help tackle corruption proactively and head-on.  

The Sunyani Municipal chapter of the Local Accountability Network (LANet) in collaboration with the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC) with support from GIZ, the European Union, and the Helwalt Foundation organised the events.    

It formed part of broader efforts to empower young people to speak up, demand transparency, and play active roles in building a corruption-free society.   

The events further sought to amplify the voices of the young people to demand responsible leadership, accountability, and a renewed commitment to the fight against all forms of corruption.    

In an open forum, most of the school children expressed concern about the growing trend of corruption in the country after the LANet had taken them through forms of corruption.    
The students realized that corruption did not only slow down progressive and sustainable development, but also had direct effects on their wellbeing, safety, and future.    

Miss Eugenia Owusuaa Diawuo, a student of the Methodist JHS noted if the nation was able to fight corruption, the school environment could be improved for effective teaching and learning.   

She said corruption drained the public purse and if it was tackled, the government could enhance educational infrastructure and provide schools with the required learning and teaching materials.    

Master Prince Essuman, also a student of the Fiapre Methodist JHS expressed concern that they were denied learning and teaching materials which impeded their academic progress.    

For him, public institutions mandated to fight corruption ought to be well resourced to enable those institutions to facilitate the prosecution of alleged corrupt public officials and be punished accordingly.    
Ms Victoria Amoah also a student of the Adantia Methodist JHS said they were unknowledgeable about the mandate of the anti-corruption public state institutions.  

She therefore called for intensified sensitization about the mandate of those institutions in basic schools for the students to also contribute to the nation’s fight against corruption by reporting corrupt officials to such institutions.    

Earlier, Mr Raphael Godlove Ahenu, the Secretary of the Sunyani local chapter of LANet and the Chief Executive Officer of the Global Media Foundation LBG, (GloMeF) emphasized that children, though often overlooked in national accountability conversations, were mostly affected by acts of corruption.   

He commended the students for their boldness and urged them to serve as ambassadors and continue to remain at the forefront in championing integrity and transparency in their communities.    

In all the 370 school children attended the fora and some of them held placards with inscriptions like: “We want a Ghana where our leaders protect our future, not their pockets”.