Ghana Integrity Initiative

Introduction:
The Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), the local chapter of Transparency International (TI), has established an Advocacy and Legal Advice Centre (ALAC) in Ghana.
ALAC serves as a platform for citizens, corporate bodies and all persons resident in Ghana to participate more effectively in the fight against corruption by reporting cases of alleged corruption for the necessary attention.
ALAC Ghana was initiated in October 2008 as a result of a research conducted in 2005 by a research team termed ‘Voice of the People’ survey (in the Southern part of Ghana) by GII. The result of the survey indicated that over 87% of respondents were unconcerned about reporting incidences of corruption because they were not certain something will be done about it.
ALAC Ghana, therefore, seeks to fill this gap and provides the avenue for people and corporate bodies who have either become victims or witnesses of corrupt practices to lodge their complaint with the appropriate institutions for redress.
ALAC strongly believes that people are usually apathetic in the face of corruption because they are not provided with the simple, credible and viable mechanisms to effectively combat the menace.
The ALAC concept is Transparency International’s response to the apathy and helplessness of victims and witnesses of corruption. Currently, ALAC has 50 branches around the world operating in over 33 countries.

Focus
ALAC focuses on combating corruption through providing support and legal advice to victims and witnesses of corruption. In order to help citizens hold their governments and service providers accountable for their actions, it also seeks to advocate for protection for whistle-blowers.
ALAC does this at no cost to the complainants/witnesses.

ALAC believes that:

The fight against corruption will be more effective if citizens are involved;
Engaging directly with citizens to provide a deeper understanding of how corruption works in practice;
All forms of corruption, from the smallest to the largest, should be considered with grave attention and equal concern;
Persons who report corruption cases must be given the necessary legal respect and protection.

AIMS of the ALAC:
The ALAC has the following aims and objectives:

To empower citizens to make and pursue corruption and related complaints;
To provide legal advice and assistance to victims and witnesses of corruption;
To set up a database on corruption in the country based on complaints received from the public to be used for advocacy for broader structural and institutional reforms with the view of minimizing corruption in Ghana;
To refer complaints to appropriate public institutions such as CHRAJ, SFO, Legal Aid Scheme, and the Attorney General’s Department to handle corruption cases;
To build synergies with civil society organizations with similar objectives to broaden the frontiers of a just, fair and caring society in Ghana that is free of corruption;
To educate the public on corruption and related issues;
To change behaviour at the citizen level so that they can reject corruption and take concrete measures to combat it;
To change behaviour at the institutional level so that administrative procedures and/or laws are changed.

Services Offered by the ALAC:

Consultation with trained legal advisors;
Referrals to Anti-Corruption Agencies and/or institutions for investigations and redress of complaints;
Case preparation;
Assistance during investigation and/or redress
ALAC provides all these services FOR FREE;
Toll free hotline-0800 100 25 from Vodafone Ghana. Callers do not pay for calls using the hotline anywhere in Ghana.

Accessing the Services of ALAC:
All persons in Ghana including corporate bodies can access the services of ALAC. Some beneficiaries are as follows:

The indigent or the poor and the vulnerable who otherwise may find it almost impossible to access or demand justice;
Women and other marginalized groups in society;
Individuals who are empowered and are seeking to assert their rights.

Cases that ALAC deals with:

ALAC deals with all types of reported instances of corrupt behaviour, from small scale to large scale in service delivery;
Cases may come from across sectors such as health, education, mining, business and governance from anywhere in Ghana;
So far, ALAC has dealt with cases such as visa fraud, unjust judiciary fines, military officers on patrol, bribery against magistrates, judges, procurement, officials at the Ghana Immigration Service, dismissals for exposing corruption, etc.

The Don’ts of the ALAC:
The ALAC does not do the following:

Pronounce judgement;
Expose cases of corruption only to advocate for their solution, without campaigning against persons or institutions;
Represent victims of corruption in courts;
Publicize individual cases of corruption without the prior consent of the parties involved in the matter;
Pursue anonymous complaints.

Procedure for Complaining:

ALAC first receives complaints from the public through the telephone, mail, e-mail or walk-ins;
Requests documents /makes appointment with legal advisor (where the ALAC can assist);
Provides legal or extra legal advice to complainants;
The legal advisor assists to draft and refer complaints to the appropriate authority for redress;
Follows up on complaints lodged with institutions to track outcomes;
Uses data on complaints to advocate for greater structural and institutional changes.

Basic things you must know about Corruption:

Money, valuable goods or gifts, favours, promises are tools used in corruption;
Embezzlement, nepotism, bribery, extortion, interest peddling, fraud and illicit enrichment are all corrupt activities.

Adverse effects of Corruption:

Halts and undermines development (eg. money intended for schools, roads and hospitals goes to individuals);
Undermines democracy and good governance;
Destroys democracy (e.g. corruption during elections results in candidates with most votes not taking office) and erodes the legitimacy of governments, because they are not the people’s choice;
Increases cost of business;
Destroys the capacity of individuals to perform well (eg. people who are skilled, honest and able remain unemployed).

CORRUPTION IS DEADLY! STOP IT!!

Contact:
You may contact ALAC in the following ways:
Walk-ins:
The Advocacy and Legal Advice Centre
Ghana Integrity Initiative
H/No. 21 Abelenkpe Road, Abelenkpe,
(Near the Abelenkpe Traffic Light on the 37 – Achimota Road)

By Post:
PMB, CT 317, Cantonments, Accra Ghana

By Telephone:
Tel:233-21-760884
Free of charge call----080010025

By e-mail:
alacghana@yahoo.com