Mr. Vitus Adaboo Azeem is the Executive Secretary of Ghana Integrity Initiative, a civil empowerment non-profit organization that focuses solely on curbing corruption in Ghana.

Mr. Azeem holds a Master of Arts Degree in Sociology and a Masters Degree in Taxation, both awarded by the University of Akron, Akron, Ohio in the US in 1997. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology with Economics, awarded by the University of Ghana, Legon in 1979. In addition, Mr. Azeem holds a Post-Graduate Diploma in Effective Policies for Human Development awarded by the Institute of Social Studies, The Hague in 2005. He has also undergone three-week training in Anti-Corruption/Curbing Corruption in Copenhagen, Denmark, under a DANIDA Fellowship Programme in 2008.

After his National Service, which was a teaching position in the Bawku Secondary School, Mr. Azeem joined the now defunct Meat Marketing Board where he worked for six years. He then joined the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) where he worked for ten years, breaking in between for further studies in the United States. He has also worked in the tax units of Ernst & Young and Forest City Enterprises, both in the USA.

In 2000, Mr. Azeem was appointed the Programme Coordinator of the newly created Centre for Budget Advocacy of the Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC), a Ghanaian NGO which works for sustainable human development through the empowerment of the poor and disadvantaged in our society.

In July 2007, Mr. Azeem left the CBA to take up his present appointment as Executive Secretary of Ghana Integrity Initiative. Since joining GII, Mr. Azeem has been the spokesman of GII on corruption issues, presenting annual corruption reports and issuing press statements and contributing to panel discussions on topical issues on radio and television.

Mr. Azeem’s interest areas include social research and economic and budget analysis, specializing in gender and social budget advocacy. Over the last four years, he has contributed to the Global Integrity Report (2006 – 2009), the Open Budget Index (2004 & 2006) and the Global Corruption Barometer (2009). He has undertaken several other research tasks and written many papers on budgets and corruption.

Mr. Azeem is married with four children, three boys and one girl.