Programmes

In order to accomplish our mission, GII organizes public fora on the causes, effects and ways to curb corruption.

It also engages student bodies to talk about the canker and possible remedies. Additionally, it educates communities at the local level through radio programmes.

Networking
GII liaises with individuals and local institutions of integrity, such as the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC), CHRAJ, Attorney General's Department, The Media, Parliament, Electoral Commission, Civil Society Organisations and international institutions.

Lobbying
GII also seeks to sensitize political and other concerned parties and to enter into dialogue on corruption by organizing round table conferences, workshops, issuing of press statements etc.

GII also addresses employees in various organizations, distributes leaflets on corruption, lobbies to protect whistle-blowers and advocates for freedom of information.

Major Programmes/Activities

Information for Accountability Workshop
From 30th -31st August 2000, GII in collaboration with the International Records Management Trust (IRMT) of the United Kingdom, organized a workshop on the theme “Information for Accountability”. The workshop brought together the Executive and Parliamentary arms of government and Civil Society to forge a consensus about the adoption of Freedom of Information Bill. Following the workshop, “corruption” and “public information management” became major issues in Ghana's election campaign. Public interest in and involvement with the election campaign was so high that to avoid a clash of interests, GII took a strategic decision not to launch any of its core programmes until the elections were over.

Integrity Walk 2001
GII held an integrity walk dubbed ‘Declare for Integrity! Walk with your Conscience' as a launching pad for a national slogan campaign against corruption. The Walk was organized on 10th December, 2001 in partnership with the Office of the Vice President, Parliament, the Judiciary, National Commission for Civic Education(NCCE), Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Serious Fraud Office (SFO), Council of State, Ghana Police Service, Ghana Prisons Service, Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) and Ghana Immigration Service. It attracted participation from Business Associations, Religious Bodies, Youth Groups, public and civil servants and Civic Community Leaders.

The Integrity Walk provided an opportunity for national leadership to exhibit role model quality by declaring for integrity and also afforded the society at large the opportunity to examine themselves and their conscience as far as broad society's contribution to corrupt practices are concerned. Evidently, economic/social pressures from society at large on public figures often lead to public integrity being compromised. The walk therefore highlighted the need for social attitudinal change and commitment against corrupt practices from the public as part of the anti-corruption struggle.

Investigative Reporting Seminar
GII, in collaboration with the Media Foundation for West Africa and the Public Affairs Section of the US Embassy, organized a seminar on “Enhancing Investigative Reporting in Ghana” from 18th - 19th February 2003. The seminar was designed to achieve the following objectives: Assess the state of investigative reporting in Ghana, Enhance the capacity of journalists in investigative reporting; Improve writing, quantitative and analytical skills; Enhance the ability of the media to conduct independent research using information technology; Deepen understanding of media oversight function in Ghana's democratic consolidation; and to inspire a culture of investigative reporting in Ghana. The seminar was well patronized by the media and its short term objectives were achieved.

Focus Group Discussion on FOI
On December 12, 2002, GII together with the Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) held a one-day Focus Group Discussion (FGD) on the ‘First Draft of the Freedom of Information Bill 2002'. It was an Experts Meeting and was closed to the Press. The Focus of the meeting was to critique and review the first draft of the FOI Bill, which the Attorney General's Office had referred to civil society through GII for further input before submission to Parliament.

The referral of the draft bill to civil society, seen as a landmark in Government-Civil Society relationships and collaboration in the development of transparency enhancing legislation, came against the background of civil society advocacy for the enactment of Freedom of Information Legislation to regulate access to public information in order to strengthen their capacity to participate meaningfully in governance. The report of the review has since been forwarded to the office of the Minister for Justice and Attorney-General.

Governance Hour
Governance Hour was a GII radio talk show programme on a national FM station, Uniq FM. The focus of the programme was to educate its audience on a myriad of anti-corruption issues. It also examined governance institutions in ethical infrastructure; monitored ongoing issues of governance, as well as provided a platform for governance advocacy organisations.

Transparency International Africa Chapter Conference
From 25th to 29th April, 2002 GII, together with TI Secretariat organized the 2nd Transparency International (TI) Africa Chapters Conference at the M-Plaza Hotel in Accra, under the theme ‘Deepening and Sustaining the African Anti-Corruption Agenda: Implementing the Nyanga Declaration'. The focus of this conference was to develop an Action Plan for the realization of the conclusions of the 1 st Conference in Nyanga, Zimbabwe; provide an opportunity for networking and sharing of best practices; review the state of National Chapter institutional structures, including sustainability, and define the regional issues to be fed into the TI movement's global agenda at TI's 2002 Annual General Meeting. Participants from almost all the 29 Africa Chapters and delegates from the Africa Office at TI Secretariat in Berlin attended the conference.

Seminar on Enhancing Transparency in Ghana
Based on its mission to promote transparency and accountability, GII, in conjunction with the Public Affairs Section (PAS) of the US Embassy in Ghana and the Governance Unit of the Ministry of Justice, organized a four-day seminar on Enhancing Transparency in Ghana, between 13th – 16th August, 2002. With the theme ‘Mainstreaming Anti-Corruption Measures in Ghana', the seminar was to provide objective information on the subject of transparency and accountability and thus strengthen the information base for policy formulation and implementation. It was also to solicit opinions on effective strategies for dealing with policy on transparency and accountability and put the problem of corruption in the public sector into sharper focus, as a means of mobilizing the commitment of both public officials and private citizens to combat it.

CPI 2003
On October 7 2003, GII launched Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) at the Ghana International Press Center. The CPI is an index that measures levels of corruption in the public sector and politics as perceived by business people, academics and risk analysts. The 2003 CPI ranked 133 countries of which Ghana was 72nd, with a score of 3.3 out of a clean score of 10.