By Yussif Ibrahim/Florence Afriyie Mensah
Akyawkrom (Ash), Aug. 30, GNA – The Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC) is urging journalists to go beyond “scratching the surface” of annual reports of the Auditor General by subjecting them to in-depth analysis to inform Ghanaians the level of rots in public institutions.
According to the Coalition, it is not enough for journalists and media houses to report and discuss the infractions for a few days in the media space without bringing out how huge public funds are misappropriated with careless abandon.
Mrs. Beauty Emefa Narteh, Executive secretary, GACC, said it was important for journalists to also highlight the recommendations of the Auditor General and follow up to inform the public as a way of giving additional feedback to the context of the audit report.
“We believe if more journalists are doing that, citizens will be well informed to be able to understand how our public funds are being utilised,” she told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview during a media training on the Auditor General’s reports at Akyawkrom in the Ashanti Region.
The training, which was attended by selected media personnel drawn from the northern zone of the country, sought to equip participants with the requisite skills and knowledge to appreciate, distill and accurately report on the Auditor General’s findings.
It formed part of the “Building Evidence for Increased Accountability in Ghana through a Multi-Stakeholder Accountability Initiative”, being implemented by GACC with funding support from the Hewlett Foundation.
A representative from the Internal Audit Agency (IAA) was on hand to engage participants on the areas journalists must focus on, interpretation and analysing audit recommendations and post audit issues, public audits and the Public Financial Management (PFM) cycle.
They were also taken through how to use the Rights to Information (RTI) requests and Registrar General’s records for storytelling and fact-based reporting on the Auditor General’s report.
Mrs. Narteh said duty bearers could be held accountable when there was access to credible and reliable information and one such data source was the Auditor General’s report.
She said it was time to depart from the situation where a few media houses discussed the report anytime it was released without delving into the findings and following up to understand the issues and seek clarity for the benefit of citizens.
Beyond the training, the GACC is expecting to see increased reporting on the Auditor General’s reports where journalists would be seen making follow ups on recommendations, including reporting on how institutions cited in the audits are addressing infractions raised.
“That is why we have included how to requests for information using the RTI Act so we expect that journalists can access additional information that they would need to bring clarity to the issues they report on,” the Executive Secretary observed.
The idea is to increase transparency and accountability of the public purse to the citizenry, she noted.
GNA