WHAT IS GII (TI-GHANA)?
Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), is the Local Chapter of Transparency International (TI), GII was launched in December 1999 as a non-partisan, non-profit civil empowerment organization focused on the delivery of essential themes necessary for the creation of a National Integrity System.  It has a Board of 7 members and a Secretariat supported by 13 full-time staff.

Transparency International (TI) is a global civil society organization leading the fight against corruption. TI brings people together in a powerful worldwide coalition of over 90 locally established national chapters and chapters-in-formation to end the devastating impact of corruption on men, women and children around the world. TI’s mission is to create change towards a world free of corruption.

GII’s strategy and all its activities are rooted in its core values. These core values are: Integrity, Transparency, Accountability, Independence, Impartiality, Objectivity and Cooperation.

 

Corruption is a canker that needs to be extricated from society because among other things: 

  • Corruption is both a cause of poverty and barrier to overcoming it
  • Corruption causes economic and social obstacles to the development of a country 
  • Corruption undermines democracy and rule of law
  • Corruption distorts national and international trade

OUR VISION

The vision of GII is “a corruption-free society where all people and institutions act accountably, transparently and with integrity”

 

 

OUR MISSION

The mission of GII is “to fight corruption and promote good governance in the daily lives of people and institutions by forging strong, trusting and effective partnership with government, business and civil society and engagement with the people”

GII has four main objectives specifically aimed at achieving the vision of a corruption-free Ghana. These are:

  1. To be an effective and efficient civil empowerment organization that works to achieve its anti-corruption mandate;
  2. To continuously create awareness about the negative effects of corruption and sensitize citizens on the need to work together towards curbing it in all spheres of society;
  3. To empower citizens to demand responsiveness, accountability and transparency from people and institutions in Ghana;
  4. To build a culture of integrity, where corruption is unprofitable for people in government, politics, business and civil society, through collaboration with like-minded people and groups 
      
  • To educate the Ghanaian public on the negative effects of corruption   and the need to curb it;
  • To educate the public about civic rights and duties especially the need to demand transparency and accountability from office holders;
  • To encourage networking of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and community-based organizations (CBOs) and in the demand for open government;
  • To press for policy and legislative reforms aimed at promoting transparency, accountability and integrity;
  • To support the evolution of strong institutions of governance especially the institutions directly involved in anti-corruption activities;
  • To forge links between the public and their governments as the basis for the evolution of a National Integrity System;
  • To create and administer training programs in ethics and civic duty;
  • To liaise with international anti-corruption bodies on anti-corruption strategies and activities;
    To create awareness on anti-corruption and integrity issues;
  • To build a database (including Internet Access) and library on corruption for use by anti-corruption agencies and the public.

In the past two to five years, GII has:

  • Organized sensitization workshops, seminar etc on the causes, effects and solution to corruption
  • Engaged student bodies in schools and identifiable youth groups to talk about the canker and possible remedies of corruption
  • Advocated for the initiation and/or passage of transparency-enhancing and anti-corruption legislations such as:
    • Freedom of Information Bill
    • Whistleblower Law
    • Assets Declaration Law (Regulation)
  • Organized nation-wide radio programmes to educate the public on the importance of anti-corruption legislations in the fight against corruption
  • Advocated for the ratification and domestication of United Nations (UN) and Africa Union (AU) Conventions against corruption
  • Conducted Corruption-related surveys including the following:
  • GII “Voice of the people Survey – an Urban corruption perception survey in Southern Ghana (2005)
  • Judiciary Watch Project – monitoring Judiciary corruption in Ghana (2005-2007)
  • Global Corruption Barometer (2009)
  • Africa Education Watch - Ghana Report (2009).
  • ·Launched Transparency International’s annual reports namely:
    • Corruption Perception Index (CPI)
    • Global Corruption Report (GCR)
    • Global Corruption Barometer (GCB).
  • Published quarterly newsletter “GII Alert” that highlights GII and TI activities as well as best practices and significant happenings in anti-corruption in Ghana and around the world.
  • Initiated a Membership Drive project aimed at raising awareness about GII and soliciting membership of the TI movement for qualified members
  • Launched GII’s  new project, Advocacy and Legal Advice Centre (ALAC) to provide the avenue for victims or witnesses of corruption to pursue their cases with the appropriate authority
  • Held meetings with key stakeholders in the water sector on transparency and integrity in the water sector under another new GII project called Transparency and Integrity in Service Delivery in Africa (TISDA)
  • Organized ethics workshops titled “Zero Tolerance Against Corruption Campaign: The Role of Religious Bodies in Ghana” for religious groups throughout the country
    ·Organized workshop for Public Officials to promote awareness of the Guidelines on Conflict of Interest developed by CHRAJ
  • Empowering communities to demand transparency, responsiveness and accountability in the provision of water, under the poverty and corruption in Africa pilot project
  • Collaborating with Ghana Association of Women Entrepreneurs (GAWE) to implement a project, “Gender and Tax Justice in Ghana” to research into the impact of taxation on women
  • GII belongs to the national coalition of anti-corruption organizations and institutions (GACC);
  • GII is a member of the Right to Information Coalition (RTI).
  • GII is a member of the Publish What You Pay Coalition and Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition.
  • GII also works with individuals and local institutions of integrity such as the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), the Auditor-General, the Attorney General’s Department, Parliament, Electoral Commission.
  • GII collaborates with the Media on its public education and sensitization programmes
  • GII also works with international institutions working on anti-corruption issues in Ghana.
  • GII’s lobbying activities include:
  • Sensitizing political and other parties through dialogue, round table discussions, workshops, press statements, etc. on corruption;
  • Lobbying the Executive and Parliament for policy and legislative reforms;