The Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC), in collaboration with the Audit Service, has offered training to 90 journalists from across the country to pursue transparency and good governance-focused journalism.
The workshop aims to strengthen media practitioners’ understanding of the 2024 Auditor-General’s
Report and equip them with practical skills for follow-up investigative activities on the report’s
findings and recommendations.
The initiative forms part of the GACC project titled “Building Evidence for Increased Accountability in Ghana through a Multistakeholder Accountability Initiative”, funded by the Hewlett Foundation.
Participants were taken through topics including the independence of the Auditor-General, media as an accountability watchdog, media perspectives of the Auditor-General’s Report, and the types of the Auditor-General’s Report, among others.
Pamela Laourou, Assistant Communications Officer, Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition, in her closing remarks at the middle belt edition of the workshop in Kumasi, said training journalists on the Auditor-General’s Report is crucial in the fight against corruption.
She said through the initiative of the coalition, 90 journalists, 30 each from the Southern Zone (Accra), Northern Zone (Tamale), and Middle Belt Zone (Kumasi), were trained to strengthen their ability not just to report but to pursue investigative stories that promote transparency and good governance.
The communication officer indicated that the Auditor-General’s report sheds light on how public resources are managed, exposing irregularities and accountability gaps.
“By deepening journalists’ understanding of the report and equipping them with skills for investigative follow-up, the media is better positioned to do more in their field,” she reiterated.
Ms Laourou noted that beneficiary journalists are fully equipped to track the implementation of the recommendations of the Auditor-General and to hold duty bearers accountable.
Beneficiary journalists promised to embark on extensive follow-ups on the reports and their associated recommendations through investigative writings and reporting.
A participant, Dora Piesie, a journalist with Goaso-based Hammers Radio, stated, “I am equipped with practical skills to do follow-up investigative reporting on the Auditor-General’s Report findings and recommendations.”