The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) is to join forces with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) to further tighten the corruption noose as spelt out in the National Anti-Corruption Action Plan (NACAP).
Mr Richard A. Quayson, Acting CHRAJ Commissioner, explained that the commission had analyzed the strategic role of the GNA as a national wire service and affirmed that the anti-corruption action plan would not succeed without the utmost support of the Agency serving as a watchdog.
Mr Quayson stated during preliminary engagement with the GNA team, including Mr Francis Rex Annan, Director of Administration, and Mr Francis Ameyibor, a Deputy News Editor in charge of GNA Project Coordination, to iron out details of a Memorandum of Understanding.
The Acting CHRAJ Commissioner said the media played an important role in investigating and reporting corruption and building support to combat it.
“A free and independent media, with adequate access to information, is extremely important in the fight against corruption. The GNA therefore, with its nationwide network, will serve as a key partner to ‘name and shame’ without compromise.
“It is by exposing incidents of corruption that there will be an environment in which corruption is a high-risk and low-gain undertaking,” Mr Quayson stated.
He said CHRAJ needed a communication partner like the GNA to operate in an impartial manner and avoid sensationalizing cases.
“Bias and sensationalism can undermine the ability of anti-corruption agencies to deal effectively with corruption, hence the partnership with Ghana News Agency.”
As part of the collaboration, GNA reporters and stringers will be properly trained in principles and techniques of investigating and reporting cases and monitoring corruption trends and practices.
Mr Annan said the GNA was ready to collaborate with the anti-corruption constitutional body to fight corruption through multiple actions which included joining forces to educate, promote and protect fundamental human rights and freedoms.
Others are to assist CHRAJ to implement the NACAP and oversee activities intended to inculcate in the citizens of Ghana awareness of their civic responsibilities and an appreciation of their rights and obligations as free people.
He said the two bodies would also step up educational campaign as well as sensitize the general public about corruption and enlist public support to fight corruption at all levels of society.
Mr Annan said GNA and CHRAJ would develop the capacity of the Agency’s reporters and stringers with the necessary skills and knowledge to join forces with CHRAJ for the projection of positive dynamics in the fight against corruption.
This, he said, would be done by providing consistent reportage to sensitize the public on corruption and its impact on society and how to address it.
Mr Ameyibor explained that the GNA had rolled out plans to reshape the agency’s manpower and operational logistics to meet national and international mandate to ensure that it remained relevant to its numerous subscribers and to sustain a cohesive nation state.
He said, as part of the broader scope, GNA had identified strategic partners, including the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), CHRAJ, Ghana Oil Company Limited (GOIL) and other social-economic actors to join forces to revamp the media landscape.
Mr Ameyibor noted that in the digital era, news had become universal as people accessed it in multiple layouts on manifold stages and on innumerable devices.
“The days of loyalty to a particular news organization on a particular piece of technology in a particular form are gone, GNA therefore is moving towards a holistic news gathering to serve the information needs of the nation as a whole.
“This entails strong commitment to principles of national inclusiveness, accuracy, speed and objectivity, strong enough to ensure that the agency continues to play a critical role in the national communication system,” he said.
Established in 1957 as the first news agency in Sub-Saharan Africa, GNA contributed to African and Ghanaian emancipation.
Ghana’s first President, Dr. Kwame Nkumah, regarded GNA as a counterweight to biased reporting by international news agencies.
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(Via: NewsGhana)