The Executive Secretary of the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC), Beauty Emefa Narteh, has called on civil society organisations (CSOs) to comply with the regulatory requirements of the country to enable them to demand accountability from stakeholders, especially the public sector.

"CSOs must comply with the local laws that govern taxation, registration of businesses and labour so that they will not be found in breach of those laws," she said.

Mrs Emefa Narteh said this in an interview with journalists at a compliance training workshop for CSOs across the country in Accra last Tuesday.

The in-person and virtual workshop was organised by GACC, in partnership with Trustlaw, the global pro bono legal network of the Thomson Reuters Foundation and HB & O Legal, with support from the Hewlett Foundation.

The workshop on the theme: "Enhancing Non-Governmental Organisation Legal Compliance in Ghana," was to equip CSOs with knowledge of corporate governance, tax obligations, real estate, and data protection and to operate with increased transparency and accountability.

Compliance

The Executive Secretary of the GACC called on CSOs to commit time and resources to update themselves on the laws that govern their work.

"We believe that compliance should be basic to every civil society organisation that is registered to operate in the country.

"When you know all these things, it helps you.

And even in terms of how you manage your staff, the labour laws, most people do not pay attention to those things, so it's important, " she said. 

Mrs Emefa Narteh said non-compliance could lead to costly litigation and damage to an organisation's reputation and warned CSOs to be aware of the laws that govern their work to avoid such consequences.

The resource person and managing partner at HB & O Legal, Sally Hayfron-Benjamin Boaten, who took the participants through various topics, including corporate governance, tax obligations and real estate, urged them to prioritise compliance with laws to protect themselves.

She said CSOs could easily become targets due to their work in calling out wrongdoings.

"Compliance is crucial for CSOs to avoid becoming targets," she emphasised, adding, "It's important that to protect themselves, they are compliant with laws within the country."

She said the expectation was that CSOs would go back and ensure compliance in all regards.

"We hope that they will go back, sit down, look within themselves, admit what they haven't been doing, and ensure that going forward, they are compliant," Ms Boaten said.