Accra-Ghana, July 25, GNA – Transparency International, the global civil society organization leading the fight against corruption, has opened a three-day regional workshop in Accra for its Advocacy and Legal Advice Centres (ALAC) coordinators.
The coordinators are for the Land and Corruption in Africa Project (LCAII), the All Inclusive Services Delivery Africa Project (ISDA), and the Strengthening Accountability Network and Civil Society (SANCUS).
Participants are drawn from Ghana, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Madagascar, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda, Zimbabwe, and Zambia.
Ms. Allison Mathews, ALAC Programme Lead, Transparency International Secretariat, said ALAC, which has been in operation since 2003 and operates in 64 countries.
He said over 320,000 people had contacted the centres, and over 75,000 cases were opened due to complaints made to it.
Ms. Mathews said the objectives of ALAC were to empower citizens to report corruption, accompany citizens when resolving their grievances, and advocate for structural changes based on insights gained from ALAC casework.
She noted that the workshop was aimed at sharing current ALAC impact and experiences across the region with a view to applying improved ways of delivering ALAC services and guiding the strategic direction of chapters’ ALAC work.
She added that it would also contribute towards an ALAC Gender and Inclusion Guide for Transparency International’s global ALAC Network through sharing experiences and good practices.
Another objective of the workshop was to explore opportunities for cross-country collaboration on common themes, ALAC operational areas, and areas of joint action, as well as to become operational on the ALAC digital tools.
The Reverend Dr. Emmanuel Ansah, the Board Chairman of the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), welcomed participants and commended Global Affairs Canada and Transparency International for their support towards sustaining the ALAC initiative.
He said he shared in the ideals of the ALAC because of his background in ensuring that ethics and standards are upheld in both education and the private sector.
He said fighting corruption was a herculean task, adding that Ghana’s ALAC had indeed contributed immensely to GII’s modest achievement in the fight against corruption, especially the annual progress report of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), which continues to showcase its successes through the statistics generated.
Madam Mary Awelana Addah, the Acting Executive Director of GII, told the Ghana News Agency that the workshop was an opportunity for them to learn, adopt, and adapt best practices from other countries to shape her outfit’s way forward.
Madam Addah said it would also help in maximizing the fight against corruption, noting that ALAC was one of the main platforms that contributed to civil society’s work on corruption, adding that there was a need to create an avenue for people to work after educating and empowering them to report corruption.
Ghana currently has four ALAC centres located in Accra, Ho, Tamale, and Kumasi.
