A two-day training was held for selected journalists in the Greater Accra Region on the impact of reserve-based lending (RBL) and illicit financial flows. The training which was organised by Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), an Accra-based international media rights civil society organisation is part of a project dubbed “Strategic Partnership Initiative for Ghana and West Africa” to close the knowledge and capacity gaps on RBL and IFFs. The 2-day training provided participants with practical tools to identify techniques used to engage in illicit financial activity. The participants were drawn from 25 financial, business and economic media organisations including The Fourth Estate and Fact-Check Ghana of the MFWA.
Opening the 2-day training at Sunlodge Hotel in Accra, Programme Director in charge of Media for Peace and Sustainable Development at MFWA, Dr. Kojo Impraim, charged media practitioners to be advocates of good governance and accountability by using their platforms to expose corruption that continues to plague the country thus hindering its progress. He said Ghanaians are not angry enough to demand for better quality of life in the country therefore it is the duty of the media to stir up that anger by shining the light on critical areas of the economy that are being exploited by individuals and political leaders to the detriment of ordinary citizens.
“We haven’t been angry enough in this country and the back stops on you guys because you are the guys who have to set an agenda, a sustained agenda.”
Dr. Impraim related his call to a campaign against illegal mining by the media in 2017 that drew national attention to the dangers of illegal mining or “galamsay” to society. He bemoaned the political ‘capture’ of society by 2 major political parties, New Patriotic Party (NPP) and National Democratic Congress (NDC), where both parties are seen hijacking the airwaves to spew their narratives. He however acknowledged limitations faced by journalists in reporting on critical matters due to the ownership structure of some media houses in the country that shapes editorial policy in some respects.
The training topics covered areas including understanding Reserve-based Lending (RBL), Ghana’s future in mining the ‘minerals of the future’, natural resources taxation and the risks of RBL, and deploying data journalism into financial secrecy among others. The training was funded by the Embassy of Denmark and Oxfam in Ghana.
This article was amended to include additional notes on the number of participants and the sponsors of the training.