Anti-corruption experts meet to strategise

Accra, Dec. 14, GNA - The Programme Co-ordinator of the National Governance Programme (NGP) said on Thursday that corruption remained one of the obstacles against the total achievement of Ghana's development goals despite the fact that the nation had chalked some success in efforts to meet her targets.

Mrs Leonora Kyerematen said efforts by the government and other stakeholders had been in the right direction but there was the need to do more to stem the canker in order to develop the country and reduce poverty.

Speaking at an experts' meeting in Accra to strategise on methodology for measuring corruption and recommending ways of dealing with it, Mrs Kyerematen said with the exception of asset declaration whose implementation was outstanding, the passage of the procurement Act, Financial and Administration Act, Internal Audit Act and the strengthening of institutions to handle corruption related issues, were commendable.

She therefore called for the review of the asset declaration provision to make it implementable and expressed the hope that the Whistle Blowers Act and the Access to Information bill, when passed, would strengthen mechanisms for the fight against corruption. The Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition and the NGP are organizing the meeting in collaboration with the UNDP on the theme: "Corruption Perception Index and Its Impact on the Fight Against Corruption In Ghana."

Mrs Kyerematen said the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition with other stakeholders had served as pressure groups and contributed to the development of a national plan of action, which was mainstreamed into the Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS) to check corruption. The Coalition was instrumental in the setting up of the Ghana Revenue Agencies Board and the designing of the guidelines on conflict of interest by the CHRAJ.

The Coalition is the only one of seven established within Africa that has continued to exist since its establishment.

Mrs Kyerematen said Thursday's meeting would not seek to indulge in blame games of who was shirking responsibilities but would rather undertake a critical analysis of the Corruption Perception Index (CPI), which had been widely accepted as most credible, and relate it to Ghana. The meeting will also define clearly an anti-corruption strategy for the promotion of development and poverty reduction. She said the exercise was necessary to enable stakeholders to come to clear understanding of issues that contributed to the high perception of corruption and the underlying indices, correct the failings and find ways to add to the successes.

Mrs Kyerematen called for support in the efforts to tackle corruption, which, she said, was systemic saying "we need to undertake internal auditing before we allow for external auditing".

Mr Kwesi Osei Prempeh, Deputy Attorney-General, said every citizen in Ghana should see himself as part of the problem or the solution to corruption.

"If the driver who is stopped by the policeman can say that I am prepared to go to the court instead of giving him money, we will be able to get somewhere."

He mentioned bribes given by importers, those given to judges and those given through tender processes and said that some of the corrupt practices stemmed from the belief that even the big men were doing it.

"But many things happen behind our backs," the Minister said. "We sometimes sign documents of things to be purchased but we do not see them."

He said the government was prepared to work together with the civil society groups and added that the government was working "to domesticate" the United Nations and African Union conventions into law to help fight corruption.

Mr Christophe Bahuet, Deputy Resident Representative of the UNDP, said even though it was difficult to quantify corruption, its impact was detrimental to every nation.

He said the reduction in Foreign Direct Investment and tax revenue, slow pace of development and increased poverty were the major areas affected by corruption.

Mr Christophe said fast developing countries such as China tackled corruption in order to reach where they were now and urged stakeholders to forge common ground to fight corruption.