By Pascaline Adadevoh
With a few months to the General Elections, every Democratic country is faced with a looming spectre, Serious Organised Crime for which corruption tops it all. This comes in the form of vote rigging, vote buying and selling, ballot stuffing and the like.
A recent Data from the Centre for Democratic Governance CDD Ghana, showed that the cost of running for Member of Parliament in Ghana increased by 58 percent between 2012 – 2016. Indeed the data further showed that an aspiring MP spent about a hundred million cedis in influencing votes in their favour. As we navigate the treacherous waters of an election year, the role of the media to determine what’s behind the glittering facade of campaigns and ballots, can not be underestimated.
Through investigative journalism and diligent reporting, the Media have the power to expose the truth and hold those responsible to account. It is in line with this that the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition GACC in collaboration with the Ghana Integrity Initiative GII and Africa Center for Energy Policy ACEP organized a workshop on how to enhance media capacity to contribute to the fight against Serious and Organised Crime during elections. Various stakeholders in the fight against Organised Crime, shared experiences, good practices and expectations from the media in the fight against corruption.
The Second Deputy Head, Legal and Prosecution at the Economic and Organised Crime Organization EOCO Leo Antony Siamah, noted the need for the issue of Organised Crime to be put into perspective. He said Organised Crime is structured and sophisticated, citing examples as money laundering, kidnappings, child trafficking, extortion, influence or power. Mr Siamah said EOCO is aware of the changing trends of Organised Crime and so is equally working around the clock to tackle such crimes head-on.
According to him, one major way to solve the issue of Organised Crime which is ingrained in the country’s fabric is nibbing it in the bud from the basics while teaching it from basic schools so Pupils can build the knowledge around it at an early stage.
Director Strategy, Research and Communication at the Office of the Special Prosecutor Samuel Appiah Darko, stated that the OSP has a clear mandate on which corruption cases to deal with. He stated that the Media must carry this education to the Public so they do not think that the OSP has failed or is not working.
Mr. Darko, who is also a Journalist and a lawyer, advised that media reportage is replete with probing questions to help unmask those behind offences.
“Media reports could help investigations into electoral offences,” he noted.
Kwaku Krobea Asante, from the Media Foundation of West Africa, encouraged the media to get acquainted with how to use the RTI law to access information from state institutions.