By Emmanuel Todd/Christabella Arko, GNA
Accra, Aug. 20,
GNA – Mr Charles Ayamdoo, the Director, Anti-Corruption of Commission on Human
Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) says the Ghana Anti-Corruption
Coalition (GACC) shall begin naming institutions who fail to implement the
National Anti-Corruption Action Plan (NACAP).
He said the
approach would compel the institutions to adhere to the action plan initiated
by government to fight corruption after dialogue with such institutions have
failed.
He said the
GACC is ready to collaborate with the media to make the policy effective adding
that the 10-year NACAP initiative by government (2015-2024), was meant to
contextualise and mobilise effort and resources of stakeholders in the fight
against corruption.
Mr Ayamdoo was
addressing participants at a roundtable engagement held by the GACC under the
theme: “Strengthening collective action in the fight against corruption in
Ghana”.
The event was
to address the bottlenecks which has hampered the implementation of NACAP and
ensure an effective take-off to curb corruption in the country.
A report on
NACAP was launched which highlights
various themes including the readiness of Implementing Partners (IPs), the
level of implementation and challenges.
Mr Ayamdoo said
that the coalition has taken the needed steps to address some challenges such
as low levels of awareness, funding, use of focal persons instead of units, low
political commitment and lack of monitoring or supervision.
“If we see
funding as a collective effort and the Implementing Partners would begin to
internalise activities and carry them out as part of their everyday work flow
in the fight against corruption, the challenge of funding would be a thing of
the past,” he said.
Mr Bright Sowu,
Acting Head of Programmes GACC, said that in furtherance of the coalition’s aim
to fight corruption it has recommended through its report that there is the
need for stakeholders and monitoring bodies to kick-start extensive awareness
campaigns to educate management of institutions and the wider community on
NACAP.
He said
Implementing Partners should improve upon the implementation of the NACAP by
incorporating its activities into their core functions rather than implementing
them as stand-alone exercises.
Mr Sowu said
the creation of systems in-charge of NACAP implementation could be more
effective if specific units or focal units within organisations are identified,
well briefed or trained on the parameters of anti-corruption.
He said the coalition
as part of its recommendations has called on government to promote the
implementation of the Action Plan and
put in measures to encourage its implementation in public offices such as
Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), Metropolitan, Municipal District
Assemblies (MMDAs), Civil Society Organisations, Anti-Corruption Institutions
and the Private Sector.
He said CHRAJ,
Monitoring Committee and High level Implementation Committee has been tasked to
intensify its supervision of Implementing Partners as effective monitoring is
essential to the success of every anti-corruption strategy.
GNA
