Anti-corruption seminar opens

A five day programme on anti-corruption and good governance aimed at equipping participants with skills for monitoring and investigating integrity breaches, opened in Accra on Monday.

Senior level legal personnel, human rights activists and journalists among other groups are attending the seminar, organised for civil society leaders from Ghana, Nigeria and Mali. It is being organised by the Les Aspin Centre for Government, an international education-training institute and sponsored by USAID.

Mrs Brooks Anne Robinson, Charge D' Affairs of the US Embassy in Accra, noted that systems and institutions were needed to discourage and punish corrupt behaviour while encouraging transparency and accountability. She said civil society organisations had to promote the anti-corruption agenda in public and among key government officials. "Here in Ghana, for starters, we would like to see the government's code of conduct formally adopted, promulgated and implemented.

"We would also like to see the government held to its promise of establishing an office of government accountability and integrity," Mrs Robinson said. Mrs Robinson said USAID had funds to support the implementation of the code of conduct for government officials, which had been drawn up. What was left was for the organisation of an executive integrity retreat with Transparency International and its local affiliate, Ghana Integrity Initiative, she said.

"We know a code of conduct has been drafted and the purpose of the retreat is to create awareness and commitment to it. We await Ghana government's indication of its readiness to take this up." Mrs Robinson said the US government considered strong systems of accountability to be key elements of good governance. She said corruption was highly destructive and discouraged investments, slowed economic development, disrupted and "warps the decision-making process and also creates disaffection among citizens."

Mrs Robinson noted that, even though, modalities on President George Bush's new millennium account involving an investment of five billion dollars were not entirely worked out, the funds would be targeted to a handful of countries, which had made progress in building strong institutions of accountability.

Dr Cephas Lerewonu, Director of Africa Programmes of the Les Aspin Centre, said one of the aims of the seminar was to provide participants with practical skills for strengthening the anti-corruption and good governance. He explained that participants would learn about the linkages among good governance, politics and corruption.