Anti-corruption training workshop for grass roots; Citizens to report corrupt practices on social media
District Citizens Monitoring Committees (DCMCs) meant to empower citizens to report and document corruption at the grass-roots level on social media for action are being formed across the country.
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The DCMCs are also expected to help update citizens with sufficient information on the costs and impacts of corruption on their lives and encourage them to engage in anti-corruption activism to advocate change.
This is part of a four-year United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funded project known as Accountable Democratic Institutions and Systems Strengthening (ADISS).
The Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) Consortium, made up of the GII itself, the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC) and SEND-Ghana, are implementing the programme.
A training workshop aimed at increasing the awareness and building the capacities of members of DCMCs in five districts of the Upper East Region on anti-corruption issues has been held in Bolgatanga.
The DCMC members, made up of presiding members, assembly members, faith-based organisations, representatives of women and youth groups, were drawn from the Bolgatanga, Bawku and the Kassena Nankana municipalities, the Kassena Nankana West and Bawku West districts.
Programme
The programme is being rolled out to strengthen existing anti-corruption laws and key institutions crucial to the fight against corruption.
It is, therefore, envisaged that these DCMCs at the grass roots would help empower citizens to report and document corruption and related cases through social media platforms.
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The participants discussed such issues as Ghana's anti-corruption legislative framework and structure, the Whistle Blower Act, the State Accountability Institutions, the National Anti-Corruption Action Plan (NACAP) and the role of citizen groups within the anti-corruption framework, communicating through the media.
The Upper East Programme Officer of SEND Ghana, Madam Rachel Gyabaah, who was the facilitator of the workshop, stressed that "the setback in the implementation and enforcement of Ghana’s anti-corruption legislative framework remained a significant barrier to real progress in the fight against corruption."
According to her, the situation was partly due to "capacity deficits along the advocacy chain, inhibiting the ability of civil society organisations (CSOs) to deliver concrete results from otherwise important and effective grass-roots and national initiatives."
"The situation, therefore, requires a renewed, innovative and co-ordinated approach involving all sectors of Ghanaian society, including civil society organisations making a contribution in various ways to this effort," she stressed.
Madam Gyabaah noted that citizens could volunteer information on corruption issues either through e-mails or phone-ins to the Advocacy and Legal Advisor Centre (ALAC).
She observed that corruption went beyond bribery, saying there were all forms of corruption, such as administrative corruption, looting, vote buying, kickbacks and inflation of project costs.
She, therefore, stressed the need for commitment among the citizenry and political will on the part of duty-bearers to reduce corruption to its barest minimum.