By Florence Afriyie Mensah
Adako-Jachie (Ash.), July 31, GNA – Transparency International Ghana has organised a two-day media training workshop to strengthen journalists’ understanding of defence integrity as a distinct area of governance and accountability.
The workshop brought together 30 selected journalists in the Ashanti Region and was organised with technical support from the Transparency International Defence and Security Unit and funding from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The training addressed a recurring gap identified in the organisation’s engagement with journalists and media houses in Ghana—a willingness to report on governance and accountability issues, but with limited exposure to the specific frameworks, indicators and terminology required for rigorous and credible defence integrity reporting.
Participants were introduced to Transparency International’s Government Defence Integrity Index and related assessment tools and shown how these could be applied in investigative and analytical reporting on Ghana’s defence sector.
Mrs Mary Awelana Addah, Executive Director of Transparency International Ghana, said the organisation, through its Defence and Security Unit based in the United Kingdom, had over the past decade built a substantial body of work on defence and security governance to support global efforts to reduce corruption risks in defence institutions.
She said the defence and security sector, because of its confidentiality requirements, limited parliamentary oversight and high-value procurement, remained one of the most corruption-prone areas of public administration and among the least scrutinised by citizens and the media.
Mrs Addah said effective defence reporting required specialised knowledge, including an understanding of the legitimate boundaries of national security confidentiality, familiarity with procurement and budgetary processes unique to the sector and the professional judgement to pursue accountability reporting without compromising operational security.
Without such grounding, she said, media coverage of the defence sector often leaned towards either silence or sensationalism, neither of which served the public interest.
Dr Michael Ofori-Mensah, Research Lead at Transparency International Defence and Security, took participants through sessions aimed at demystifying the defence sector to strengthen integrity, accountability and national security.
He shared comparative experiences from journalist training programmes on defence governance in other countries, noting that evolving geopolitical tensions and armed conflicts across sub-Saharan Africa had reshaped security priorities.
Dr Ofori-Mensah said it was important for civil society organisations and the media to continue building capacity and fostering dialogue among key stakeholders while drawing public attention to critical issues affecting the defence sector.
Mr Michael Boadi, Fundraising Manager at Transparency International Ghana, led a session on the role of the media in defence and security reporting.
He highlighted the importance of responsible reporting and explained why certain information must remain confidential to safeguard national security, maintain peace, and prevent potential security threats.
GNA
Edited by Kwabia Owusu-Mensah/Audrey Dekalu
Reporter: Florence Afriyie Mensah
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