On Monday, July 27th, 2026, the Integrity Initiative was launched. The launch ceremony was impressive. Virtually all those who matter in the accountability field in Ghana were present.
There were some very good speeches. Speaker Bagbin’s recounting of the Integrity journey and how he came to this moment was moving and long, reflecting the length of the journey.
If this initiative lives up to expectations, it would be, perhaps, Speaker Bagbin’s greatest legacy. Speaking at the ceremony, Chief Justice Baffoe-Bonnie said, “Integrity is the willingness to pay the price for doing what is right.”
He was right. The price for Integrity can be painfully high in our society. I remember my astonishment when I first heard the story of Col. Simpeh-Asante, who was tasked by Gen. Acheampong with upgrading Accra and Kumasi stadiums for AFCON 78.
Apparently, he was scrupulously honest. Afterwards, it was reported that Gen. Acheampong told him: “I gave you that assignment so that you would get something to take home! And you fool, you are going home with ” wonsa pan”.
Whether this is true or not, it illustrates our cultural attitude to corruption and integrity. In the storied history of Rome, there were 12 Caesars. And yet, the most celebrated Roman of all was Cato. After fighting Caesar in the Senate and battlefields for the Republic, Caesar finally crushed Scipio at the battle of Thapsus and offered Cato clemency and restoration.
Instead of accepting that, Cato committed suicide, ripping his own stomach when others tried to patch him up. Since his death at Utica, in modern day Tunisia, in 46 BC, Cato has inspired generations.
In 1775, in America, with revolution brewing, people were scared. When the second Virginia convention met in the village of Richmond, Patrick Henry stepped forward and with Washington and Jefferson watching on, delivered the address that made the American revolution irreversible, while immotalizing him.
His peroration deserves to be reproduced because it defined Integrity. ” Gentlemen may cry peace, peace– but there is no peace. The war has actually began….Why stand here idle? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me… GIVE ME LIBERTY, or GIVE ME DEATH!”
Here on our own continent, there have been many examples of integrity but let me discuss just 2. When a bomb attack on President Nkrumah left him injured at Kolungugu on 1st August, 1962, Adamafio, Ako-Adjei and Cofie-Crabbe were charged.
When a panel of judges led by CJ Arku Korsah acquitted them, the CJ was dismissed by President Nkrumah and a new panel found the accused guilty.
Finally, join me as we look over the shoulder of the 32-year-old Col. Olusegun Obasanjo showing integrity in a letter to General Gowon during the Biafra war, written in July, 1969.
He wrote, “To say that we have no money to buy military hardware to prosecute this war to a successful end is, to say the least, unthinkable. No harm in borrowing money to save this country, thereby leaving a worthy legacy for posterity.
The French and the British are yet to finish paying for the first and second world wars respectively. In each case, they incurred debt and achieved victory.” That is a young officer challenging his superiors in the service of his country. These were examples of integrity, as the Chief Justice was referring to.
I have respect for the eminent bodies and persons on this body and commend the Speaker for assembling them. And I am honoured to serve with them. I am even more impressed by the enthusiastic support shown by the Judiciary through the CJ and the executive through the Presidency.
Now, while honouring integrity is a worthy goal, those who have the power to enforce accountability must not, TAFRAKYE, wait to admire and to honour integrity in others.
Those with mandates must act, to model and to inspire integrity, before they honour it! If they fail that, they would be ignoring the lesson of the good Samaritan. As Goethe said, ” Knowing is not enough; we must apply.
Willing is not enough; we must do.”
May God bless Ghana.
Arthur Kobina Kennedy (July 29th, 2026)
