On 7 and 8 June 2023, Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) came together with key partners at a meeting in Accra facilitated by the WCO Anti-Corruption and Integrity Promotion (A-CIP) Programme to discuss how they can strengthen their joint action to fight corruption and promote integrity in Ghana. This follows the WCO Members’ recognition of the importance of collective action in previous Integrity Sub-Committee sessions.
In her opening remarks, the Deputy Minister for Finance, on behalf of the Government of Ghana, recognized the good work that the GRA is doing to build integrity, and curb corruption and other ethical violations in the revenue administration. She added that the integrity programme that the GRA is pursuing resonates with the principles outlined in the National Anti-Corruption Action Plan (NACAP). She concluded by saying that she was pleased with the work of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Committee of Freight Forwarders Association (CoFFA), Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), Office of Head of Civil Service and GRA itself to foster collaboration.
The GRA Commissioner of Customs emphasized that the partners strive for the same common goal: to solidify the Ghana Customs business environment around professional public service, economic growth, mutual trust and integrity. He reiterated that the fight against corruption and promotion of integrity is the responsibility of all and needs collective action to be successful.
The participation of the Basel Institute on Governance as a proponent of the collective action concept, also proved to be invaluable both for their inputs on the topic throughout the whole event as well as for their very pertinent presentation as the keynote speaker.
The WCO A-CIP Programme emphasizes that collective action offers immense potential to improve integrity not only for Customs but for stakeholders that care about fostering an ethical, positive work and business environment. This initiative, supported by WCO Members Eswatini and Iceland, was certainly a catalyst for continued and increased collaboration in Ghana, where GRA’s partners have accepted to be active not only in the event but for making collective action part of their day-to-day work.
The WCO Anti-Corruption & Integrity Promotion (A-CIP) Programme supports more than 20 WCO Member administrations, with funding from Norad and Canada. For more information, please contact capacity.building@wcoomd.org.