Need to enforce anti-corruption policies - GACC

Mr Roland Akabzaa, Research Officer at Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition on Friday called for the enforcement of anti-corruption policies in the country to deal with corruption since little has been done in enforcing the law.

He said an assessment by the Global Integrity Report in 2011 revealed that Ghana scored 84 per cent in mechanism to fighting corruption and scored less than 20 per cent when it comes to implementation.

Mr Akabzaa said this at a workshop on Anti-Corruption and Labour themes of the United Nations Global Compact and partnered by the Agence Francaise Development (AFD) in Accra.

He said the World Bank report in 2004 estimates that the cost of public corruption is five per cent of global Gross Domestic Products.

Mr Akabzaa said it is necessary to put in place systems to curb corruption to improve quality of products and services, reduce fraud, improve businesses and enhance the reputation of the country.

He said corruption is common because of weak institutions mandated to enforce the laws, inefficient procurement processes and lack of transparent processes and procedures.

“The Ghana Anti-corruption Coalition is a cross-sectoral grouping of public, private and civil society organizations, with the sole aim of building a national effort to confront the problem of corruption and devise effective control measures,” he added.

Mrs Amelie July, Country Manager of AFD in Ghana said their outfit’s accounts for the World’s primary development finance institutions and supports development projects for central and local governments, as well as public and private enterprises.

She said the AFD also provided technical assistance to its aid beneficiaries, including knowledge sharing, local capacity building with institutional project-funding arrangements and support for organizational performances improvement and consultancy services.

Mr Desmond Appiah, Principal Consultant at Sustainable Ghana Limited, said the International Labour Organization estimates that 2.3 million people die each year through work related issues, adding that, 4 per cent of global annual GDP is lost through direct and indirect cost of occupational accidents.

He urged organizations to develop the mindset for health and safety to avoid any unforeseen situation which affects productivity.

Mr Eze Ibiam, Head of Compliance and Ethics at Guinness Ghana Breweries Limited, said their outfit has put in place mechanisms for its employees, to ensure strict adherence to the code of ethics, including refresher courses, documenting and communicating policies and procedures.