Journalists build capacity to ensure accountability
The Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC) has held a day’s capacity-building workshop on the role of the media in ensuring social accountability, for selected print and electronic media practitioners.
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The workshop, which was held in collaboration with the Local Government and Decentralisation Programme (LOGODEP), was designed to increase journalists’ understanding of transparency and accountability with respect to governance.
Twenty-five journalists selected from the state and private media attended the workshop, which was on the theme, “The role of the media on social accountability.”
It was also meant to empower journalists with information to fight corruption and promote transparency and good governance in their reportage.
The workshop was also used to build the capacity of the media practitioners to effectively monitor and improve governance at the local level.
The participants pledged their commitment to use the watchdog role of the media to enhance open governance, transparency and social accountability through their writings.
Main project
The workshop formed part of GACC’s project on promoting transparency and social accountability at the district level, through the active participation of citizens, journalists and civil society organisations (CSOs).
The project, which is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), has the theme, “Enhancing the capacity of CSOs to effectively engage district assemblies to ensure transparency and accountability.”
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It was started in May this year and is expected to be completed in July 2015. Currently, it is being piloted in the Sefwi Wiawso and Bibiani districts in the Western Region.
Addressing journalists at the opening session of the workshop, the Communications Officer of GACC, Mrs Beauty Emefah Narteh, said the project would arm community members with enough information to demand accountability from their leaders, especially those at the local level.
“After this programme, we hope to see members of the various communities equipped with enough information on how their resources are being optimised and demand accountability from duty bearers.
For instance, she said members of a community would be emboldened to enable any of them to walk straight to a DCE or MCE and demand the level a project being executed had reached.
She said the project also aims to improve the trust between the assemblies and CSOs at the local level.
When the community folks were able to demand accountability from their leaders, the gap between the two entities would be bridged, leading to a stronger relationship, Mrs Narteh said.
Call on the media
Mrs Narteh called on the media to do their best to ensure that socially related stories such as governance and accountability were treated with much prominence.
She added that the GACC would do its best to assist the media in that regard, adding that “reliable information would be supplied for your assistance when needed”.