Accra, Ghana//-The Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC), a leading cross-sectoral grouping of public, private and civil society organisations (CSOs) with a focus on promoting good governance and fighting corruption in the country, has built the capacity of a cross-section of media practitioners on governance and anti-corruption reforms in Ghana.
The day’s training workshop enabled the media practitioners selected from the Greater Accra Region to improve their knowledge and understanding of the current governance and anti-corruption reforms in the country.
In her welcome address at the workshop held in Accra, the Executive Director of Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), Mrs Mary Addah, said similarly capacity workshops on governance and anti-corruption reforms would be held across the other regions.
“This workshop is pivotal in empowering the media to become agents of change, providing accurate and impactful reporting that can galvanise civil society and support the push for greater accountability,” she added.
She explained the Accra training workshop aims to enhance participants’ understanding of Ghana’s Governance and anti-corruption reforms and intensify their contribution to the fight against corruption in line with the project title “An Anti-Corruption Initiative for Enhancing Governance and Accountability.”
Mrs Addah noted that persistent governance challenges in the country could threaten political accountability and impede the country’s progress toward the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“These systemic issues are eroding trust in public institutions and delaying progress on SDG 16, particularly in the areas of governance, justice, and institutional effectiveness”. According to her, SDG targets 16.4, 16.5, and 16.9, which focus on tackling corruption, fostering transparency, and building strong institutions are vulnerable.
Touching on public sector corruption, Mrs Addah pointed out that opaque public procurement processes and limited youth engagement in governance are key areas of concern that the government and civil society organisations must pay attention to.
The lack of transparency around government policies, budget allocation, and public service delivery exacerbates the disconnect between the government and its citizens, leading to public apathy, she said during the training workshop.
The Project Director of The Democracy Project, Dr John Osae Kwapong, who was the main facilitator of the workshop, highlighted the vital role of the media in fighting corruption as well as championing anti-corruption and governance reforms.
The training workshop, which was held on Tuesday, October 22, 2024, forms part of the Anti-Corruption Initiative for Enhancing Governance and Accountability Project jointly run by the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC), the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), and the Africa Center for Energy Policy (ACEP), with funding from the UK’s Foreign Commonwealth Development Office aims to equip media practitioners with the tools to report on governance and anti-corruption efforts more effectively.
