The Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC) has urged the media and civil society organisations (CSOs) to be at the forefront in building public confidence and political will towards asset recovery and management reforms in Ghana.
This call was made during a stakeholder workshop held under the theme “Building Political Will and Public Support for Asset Recovery in Ghana.” The workshop brought together representatives of anti-corruption agencies, investigative journalists, and CSO actors to build knowledge on the legal and institutional frameworks that guide the recovery of proceeds of crime.
Speaking at the event, Executive Secretary of GACC, Mrs. Beauty Emefa Narteh, stated that the engagement was timely and necessary to strengthen civic actors to promote transparency and accountability in the country’s anti-corruption efforts.
“We have witnessed how some state institutions have behaved professionally in asset recovery efforts, resisting political interference. This is reassuring and must be encouraged,” Mrs. Narteh noted.
She cautioned against the politicization of asset recovery, as public confidence in the process depends to a great degree on perceptions of fairness, professionalism, and strict adherence to legal mandates.
“Asset recovery is not political witch-hunting. It is about the rule of law and recovering stolen assets for the state to fund development. Citizens must be able to trust the process, and this can only happen if the media and CSOs understand and report it appropriately,” she emphasized.
Mrs. Narteh further remarked that the media have a unique role to play in shaping public understanding of complex governance issues. She urged journalists to ensure that citizens receive the correct, in-depth information on asset recovery processes.
“When the media misreport or simplify the issues, it is doing a disservice to the public. Citizens rely on journalists to interpret these issues, so let us get it right,” she said.
She also noted the presence of such key state institutions as the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC), Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), and the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), whose experts were on hand to present the mandates and mechanisms that inform asset tracing, freezing, seizure, and recovery.
The Executive Secretary of the GACC said that the Coalition, with support from GIZ and other partners, will extend such workshops beyond Accra to engage journalists and CSOs in the regions.
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“This conversation cannot be limited to Accra. We will take this initiative to the regions so that more citizens and stakeholders are sensitized and empowered to enable effective asset recovery,” she stated.
Mrs. Narteh urged members to maximally use the knowledge shared throughout the workshop to advocate more effectively and hold institutions to account.
“We all have to be agents of change. If citizens understand how asset recovery is carried out and observe that it’s being carried out in a fair manner, public trust will grow—and political will as well,” she said.
Source: Isaac Kofi Dzokpo/capitalnewsonline.com
