Rule of law, fight against corruption project launched in Accra

 The European Union (EU) and Germany have launched a three-year project titled “Strengthening the Rule of Law and fight against corruption in Ghana” to support good governance and foster accountability.

The project, under the Participation, Accountability and Integrity for Resilient Democracy (PAIReD) programme will focus on enhancing the capacity of Ghana’s Judicial and law enforce­ment institutions to improve access to justice and empower civil society and the media to hold public officials accountable.

The 12.7 million Euro project is being co-funded by the EU, Germany and Switzerland with the aim of increasing the capacity of key anti-corruption institutions to tackle corruption, including actions under a revised National Anti-Corruption Action Plan.

It will also provide civil society and the media with tools to expose corruption in the use of public funds; educate the public on corruption and how to deal with it; and advocate the necessary changes to legislation and policy.

The event brought together key stakeholders from government agencies with the mandate to fight corruption, civil society organisa­tions and the media as well as repre­sentatives of EU member states and the donor community.

The Programme Director for the project, Astrid Kohl, stated that its objectives included ensuring the effectiveness of key government agencies in the fight against corrup­tion, participation of civil society and media in corruption account­ability and related policy making.

She said it also included digital­isation and collaboration between anti-corruption actors in the crim­inal justice chain, explaining that the project fostered collaboration of the criminal justice institutions and among institutions in the civil society, as well as strengthening digitilisation in circuit courts.

The Charge d’Affaires, EU delegation to Ghana, Jonas Claes, said the project would assist the country’s ongoing anti-corruption efforts; support state institutions to create framework conditions that would make corruption and misuse of power more difficult; and strengthen their human resource, digital, and infrastructure capacities to foster law enforcement.

He indicated that corruption was a global phenomenon and that it was not unique to any country, sector, or generation, adding that no place in the world was immune to it and that the fight for transparency and accountability was a global task.

“Corruption undermines com­petitiveness, discourages foreign investment, and hinders develop­ment. It harms the people who are most in need of public goods and violates their right to basic services,” he explained.

Bound by shared interest, Claes noted that, Ghana and the Europe­an Union would partner on a new initiative that would advance the rule of law and the fight against corruption, adding that combat­ing corruption required structural changes, legal reforms, and strong institutions.

Additionally, he said it also required a mental shift away from quick-money aspirations towards continuous introspection at an individual level and ‘’that is a step toward building a more accountable and transparent future for genera­tions.’’

The Commissioner of the Commission Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Joseph Whittal, explained that the Commission’s approach had been to address the underlying causes of corruption and establish systems that would prevent and reduce opportunities for corruption in the society

Comparing the fight against corruption to athletics, he said “the fight against corruption is not a sprint but a marathon and winning this marathon requires continuous vigilance, stakeholder collaboration and public education.”

 BY JEMIMA ESINAM KUATSINU

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