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Mr Francis Ameyibor, a Deputy News Editor at the Ghana News Agency (GNA), has tasked the media to lead a strong advocacy that will make the grounds infertile for corruption to thrive.

According to him the fight against corruption will bear no fruit without the active participation of the media in raising awareness of its dangers, both in the public and private sectors and enlighten the citizenry of their duty to combat it.

He said if the media helps in the fight against endemic corruption and sustains it, the huge resources lost to it could be redirected into productive ventures to stimulate economic growth and prosperity for the country.

Mr Ameyibor was speaking at a National Anti-Corruption Action Plan (NACAP) sensitization workshop held for key stakeholders in the Central Region at Cape Coast.

It was organised under the auspices of the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) and Transparency International, in collaboration with the Commission on Human Right and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) and the GNA, with funding from the Global Affairs, Canada.

Geared towards increasing awareness on the NACAP anti-corruption framework and reporting format, the forum brought together representatives of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs), Ministries, Department and Agencies, traditional and religious leaders, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and the media.

It engaged the participants on topics like ‘reporting format to combating corruption for effective investigative reporting procedures’, ‘awareness creating’ and ‘prosecution of corrupt conducts’.

Mr Ameyibor urged the media to investigate and report incidences of corruption, expose corrupt officials and be resilient to raise public awareness about corruption, its causes, consequences and possible remedies.

According to him, the work of the media reinforces the work of anti-corruption bodies, advocates for press freedom and accountability to strengthen the citizen to resist, condemn and report corruption.

He noted that the fight against corruption should not be directed against public institutions alone but also the private sector, rated as having high volumes of business operations and the largest employer in the country.

Citing examples, he said, the potential of drivers corrupting the security agencies on daily basis are high; the business community’s daily attempts to influence Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) officials; and the Courts were always confronted with rich and powerful litigants.

He therefore charged the media to be resilient, determined and bold to reporting cases of corruption regardless of the calibre of people involved.

"As Journalists, you must be bold in publishing Information about corrupt officials and corruption cases to "name and shame" without compromises," he said.

To effectively play their watchdog roles, Journalists must seek periodic training to sharpen their skills on principles and techniques of investigating and reporting and monitoring corruption trends as well as practices to significantly reduce its occurrences.

Mr Ameyibor also reminded owners of media houses to get actively involved and prioritise the national fight against corruption by proving time and space in all their media outlets, especially at the regional and district levels.

In addition to that, they must deliberately and consistently provide public anti-corruption messages, which encouraged citizens to report breaches of regulations and procedures such as those relating to corruption.

The National Media Commission must also uphold high standards of professionalism and ethics of the profession to sustain the integrity of the media by investigating allegations of corruption in the media and sanction media houses that fall foul of the law.

Mr Richard Quason, Deputy Commissioner of CHRAJ, called on Ghanaians to hold duty bearers to task and not just elect them into office with the hope that they would only serve the public interest but take remedial action against defaulting officers.

He asked faith based organizations and traditional leaders not to exclude themselves from the fight against corruption but use their platforms to rally support against endemic corruption that had eaten deep into the fabric of the Ghanaian society.