By Anthony Adongo Apubeo
Paga (U/E), Sept. 25, GNA – The Centre for Social Mobilisation and Sustainable Development (CENSODEV), an advocacy non-governmental organisation, has launched the Northern Ghana Women Anti-Corruption and Leadership Initiative (NG-WALI) to equip women with knowledge, skills and confidence to identify, resist and report corrupt practices.
The initiative, launched at Paga in the Kassena Nankana West District, seeks to position women as leaders and agents of change in promoting accountability and integrity in their communities.
The project will also build a network of women to champion accountability within their communities, local government structures, and other spheres of influence, drawing on existing Social Audit Committees established by CENSODEV in the Kassena Nankana Municipality and Kassena-Nankana West District.
Speaking at the launch, Mr Braimah Sanjage, the Executive Director of CENSODEV, said corruption was not only about the misappropriation of money but also involved stolen opportunities, denied services and the betrayal of public trust.
He said women, who were often primary managers of households and small businesses, bore significant consequences of corruption, making their empowerment critical to efforts to promote accountability.
Mr Sanjage said the NG-WALI project represented the next step in CENSODEV’s efforts to empower women and girls, including promoting their participation in local governance, supporting women entrepreneurs and mobilising women to participate in electoral processes in five regions.
He said CENSODEV’s broader work focused on participatory local governance and social accountability, health, water, sanitation and hygiene, quality education, and livelihood empowerment, with particular attention to women, youth, persons with disabilities and other marginalised groups.
Mr Sanjage urged women participating in the initiative to embrace the project, learn, speak up, and take leadership roles in demanding accountability.
He also called on traditional authorities, the District Assembly, civil society organisations, and the media to collaborate with CENSODEV to protect and amplify women’s voices in the fight against corruption.
Mr Sanjage further appealed to local donors and development partners to support the initiative, explaining that it was being implemented as a matching-fund initiative, with support from WACSI and WILDE-GANZEN.
Mr Stephen Aeke Akurugo, Kassena-Nankana West District Chief Executive (DCE), described corruption as a challenge that affected everyday life, citing illegal levies imposed on traders, demands for bribes in accessing healthcare and sexual exploitation linked to access to services.
He said women were disproportionately affected because they were often household managers, caregivers and small-scale entrepreneurs whose livelihoods could be undermined by extortion and discrimination.
The DCE said the focus on women was important because empowering them to understand their rights and speak out against corruption could have wider benefits for their households and communities.
He said the initiative aligned with ongoing efforts in the district to empower women to identify, resist and report corruption, adding that NG-WALI would build on those efforts by turning awareness into sustained action and leadership.
Mr Akurugo pledged the Assembly’s support for the initiative, saying good governance was a shared responsibility between the state and citizens, reiterating Assembly’s commitment to transparency in its operations.
He urged women participating in the initiative to be vigilant and report corrupt practices through available legal and institutional channels, including the Whistleblower Act, the Office of the Special Prosecutor, the Economic and Organised Crime Office, traditional authorities, the Police and the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice.
GNA
Edited by Caesar Abagali/Linda Asante Agyei
Reporter: Anthony Adongo Apubeo
Reporter’s email: [email protected]