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Ghana’s effort to strengthen the fight against corruption and enhance the rule of law has received a major boost with the injection of $12.7 million to enhance the capacity of state institutions, civil society organisations and the public to push for better law reforms and hold public servants accountable.
Dubbed, “Strengthening the Rule of Law and the Fight against Corruption in Ghana”, the three-year project, which began last year, and was officially launched on March 20, this year, is an initiative of German Development Cooperation (GIZ).
Among others, the project seeks to enhance the effectiveness of key government agencies in the fight against corruption, strengthen the participation of civil society (including women and youth organisations) and the media in accountability and policymaking, and increase digitalisation and collaboration between anti-corruption actors in the criminal justice chain.
It is being funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the European Union (EU).
It is part of the programme known as “Participation, Accountability and Integrity for a Resilient Democracy" (PAIReD), which is commissioned by the BMZ and implemented by GIZ Ghana in partnership with the Ministry of Finance.
The PAIReD programme seeks to create a governance framework that is efficient, effective and responsive to the needs of the people with key areas covering participatory planning, budgeting, improved data management, land-use management, and enhancing accountability in the inter-governmental fiscal system.
The Commissioner of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice of Ghana, Dr Joseph Whittal, stressed the importance of having a robust system to investigate and hold public officials accountable, saying the project would support the second National Anti-Corruption Action Plan (NACAP).
“For us, and my staff in the commission, building capacity is very important, investigators and all the things that we need to do to strengthen the capacity of the commission, this project will help us achieve that,” he said.
The commissioner, who described the launch of the project as timely, said it would help anti-corruption institutions to discharge their mandate to ensure accountability in the public sector.
The project, he said, represented a collective commitment to fostering a culture of transparency and integrity, paving the way for a more accountable governance system in Ghana.
Giving details of the project, the Programme Director of PAIReD, Astrid Kohl, said the project represented a comprehensive approach to strengthening democratic governance and accountability in Ghana.
She announced that civil society organisations would receive grants to support public awareness campaigns.
These efforts will include outreach initiatives, social media campaigns, and radio and television shows aimed at educating citizens on their role in combating corruption.
On digitalisation, she said the project would assist the Office of the Special Prosecutor and the Economic and Organised Crime Office in establishing digital forensic laboratories.
Again, she stated that the initiative would support the development of a digital-oriented interview protocol and contribute to the digitalisation of circuit courts across the country.
That, she said, would involve implementing a digital case management system in 30 circuit courts to improve efficiency and reduce human interphase in processing corruption-related cases for expeditious trial.
The Deputy EU Ambassador to Ghana, Jonas Claes, explained that the project would help to strengthen some of the structures that were in place, the laws that existed, and ultimately to help combat corruption and institutions that strengthen them.
In addition to that, he said the project would help create a mentality shift at the individual level, to resist, report and flag instances of corruption that people might be facing.
