Book on fighting corruption launched

In a bid to equip businesses in Ghana with the capacity and tools to detect and prevent corruption in their operations, a book titled ‘Ensuring Compliance – A Practical Handbook for Businesses in Ghana,’ has been launched in Accra.

The book, which was put together by German agency, Alliance for Integrity, is set to address the common issues faced by companies in designing and implementing various compliance and anti-corruption measures in their organisations.

It provides the know-how and guidance needed for the establishment and implementation of corruption prevention and compliance programmes by both small and large companies.

“This publication is designed to serve as a reference document for compliance officials, small and medium-sized companies and decision makers in private sector organisations to better understand compliance and business integrity issues in Ghana,” a line in the book’s introductory remarks said.

In an address read on his behalf, the Minister for Business Development, Mr Ibrahim Mohammed Awal, stated that government was aware of the devastating effects of corruption to both private and public sectors, adding that “in the private sector corruption increases the cost of doing business, increases the prices of goods and services, creates a barrier against the entry of new businesses and ultimately leads to the collapse of businesses”.

The solution, Mr Awal proffered was to build an anti-corruption culture in all sectors of the economy using various approaches from government, civil society and the private sector itself.

According to him, “the President has indicated that he will deal differently with corruption in the country; under his rule the Public Procurement Act will be strictly enforced and all contracts shall be made publicly accessible to citizens so they make their own judgments on the value for many underpinnings of contracts”.

The Minister announced that government was coming out with policies that will support the development of the private sector and make the Ghanaian economy more attractive for foreign direct investment in order to ensure job creation and the overall growth of the economy.

The Head of German Development Corporation, Dr Nicole Maldonado, noted that Ghana remained a strong bilateral partner of Germany and as such “the German government recognises the relevance of jointly engaging against corruption and strengthening its cooperation with the private sector”.