The Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), the local arm of Transparency International has disclosed that it had so far received over 800 corruption reports between January and April this year.
Mr Michael Boadi, GII Funds Raising Manager said by April 01, over 400 of the cases were received on the organization’s Eye on the Corruption application platform, stressing that the reports doubled after GII intensified its campaign on the need to report corrupt practices on the Eye on Corruption App.
Mr Boadi was speaking at the 12th monthly stakeholder engagement seminar organized by the Ghana News Agency Tema Regional Office, a platform rolled out for state and non-state actors to address national issues.
The engagement also serves as a motivational mechanism to recognize the editorial contribution of reporters towards national development in general and the growth and promotion of the Tema GNA as the industrial news hub.
Speaking on the topic: “Is the fight against corruption a mirage or reality? Mr Boadi said out of the first 400 reports received, 27 were actual cases of corruption, noting that they had been dealt with.
He added that all the cases received were corruption-related, giving the assurance that they were being looked at.
Mr Boadi stated that GII through a steering committee had resolved at least 80 per cent of all reported cases, adding that the committee had members from about 14 state institutions including the judicial service, CHRAJ, trade unions, and Attorney General Department, and NIB, among others.
He added that the GII sometimes collaborated with investigative journalists for the reports, stating that complainants also received legal advice and representation to see the case through successfully.
Touching on some of the factors eroding the gains in the fight against corruption in Ghana, he mentioned excessive partisan politics and a lack of sustained and effective measures to support the fight.
He said there was also poor coordination among state institutions responsible for the fight against corruption, a lackadaisical approach by the government, and the failure to foster local ownership to ensure that the public actively participates in the formulation and implementation of the laws.
The GII Funds Raising Manager, further said Ghana, was yet to understand the dynamics and complexity of corruption.
Mr Boadi also said even though Ghana was always among the first five countries to ratify international conventions on issues such as corruption, the country was unable to domesticate them to achieve the needed aims.
Mr Francis Ameyibor, Ghana News Agency, Tema Regional Manager urged stakeholders in the public service to step up the fight against corruption; because of corruption, the government could not resource most of its institutions to perform their duties efficiently and effectively.
He said the media must collaborate with anti-corruption bodies at the national, regional, and district levels and entreated them to be bold in publishing information about corrupt officials and be prepared to ‘name and shame’ without compromise.
Source: GNA