General News of Saturday, 25 May 2019

Source: ghananewsagency.org

GII signs MoU with SACs and ASHMA to strengthen institutional accountability

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Anti- Corruption think tank Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ashaiman Municipal Assembly (ASHMA) and some local Social Auditing Clubs (SACs) to strengthen their institutional capacity.

The meeting, which saw the signing of the MoU, was also to strengthen citizens' engagement in the fight against corruption in the country, through the Accountable Democratic Institutions and Systems strengthening project.(ADISS).

In an Interview with the Ghana News Agency, Mr. Jacob Tetteh Ahuno, Programmes Officer of GII, revealed that the Anti Corruption Crusaders which included, The Ghana Integrity Initiative, (GII) Ghana Anti-corruption Coalition (GACC) and Send-Ghana were waging a relentless war to reduce corruption in Ghana.

This was being done by encouraging full participation of all citizens in monitoring and evaluating the activities of the various public institutions in the country, he said.

The Programmes Officer further explained that, the ADISS project started in 2014 and was expected to end later this year.

According to him, the success of the project was dependent on the readiness of citizens to willfully report cases of corrupt acts to the appropriate bodies for the necessary actions to be taken.

Mr Ahuno again added that the inception of the Special Prosecutor's office and the signing into law the Right To Information bill (RTI) gave hope that corruption could be reduced in the country.

He said some gains of GII consortium consolidated included ,the increased collaboration between citizens groups and anti -corruption institutions at the local level, MDAs and MMDAs enforcing the recommendations of the Auditor General and the Public Account Committee (PAC).

The ADISS project was to be implemented in 50 districts in the previous 10 regions in Ghana for a period of Five years.