[{"bbox": [96, 152, 1136, 420], "category": "Text", "text": "Police detectives also require additional training on identifying, detecting and investigating corruption, and in working more closely with prosecutors during investigations (in line with the prosecution-led investigation approach). The Office of the Special Prosecutor - a key institution in the fight against corruption - while increasingly supported in the Budget, requires training and additional support as it starts to fully implement its mandate. Mechanisms for citizens to lodge complaints of corruption and maladministration within the Police and the Judiciary have been introduced, but need to be rolled out to the remainder of the country. In addition, there is a perceived need amongst CSOs and others of the need for an independent oversight mechanism for the Police and other aspects of the criminal justice system in addition to those already established by the Police and Judiciary. Attitudes and behaviour normalising corruption in areas like gift giving, nepotism and bribery are highly prevalent and entrenched and require a concerted effort to bring about change."}, {"bbox": [96, 444, 1136, 631], "category": "Text", "text": "Investigative journalists have been instrumental in exposing corruption and deserve to be supported in this role through capacity building and other support to coordination and cooperation with those inside the country and further afield in the region. Investigative journalists also face threats to their safety and require better legislative and other support to ensure that they are protected and not victimised for exposing corruption and that sensitive but vital information can be channelled to the right media platforms and audiences. Persistent inequality in resource allocations, decision-making and political representation impact accountability and responsiveness within democratic processes."}, {"bbox": [96, 655, 1136, 923], "category": "Text", "text": "Societal beliefs, values, attitudes, and behaviours dictate women be subordinate or inferior, which hinders their participation in decision-making and representation in political and governance positions.²² Mirroring the differences between women and men in life and society generally, men and women are affected by corruption in different ways and are subjects and objects of different corrupt practices and behaviours. Gender inequality breeds corruption and corruption tends to exacerbate gender inequalities.²³ For example, women, who are usually the primary care takers for children and the elderly, experience corruption in their daily dealings with education, health and other public services. Since corruption hits poor, disadvantaged and vulnerable groups the hardest, women are also more likely to bear a heavier burden as they are often marginalised and over-represented among the poorest. Making the link between gender and corruption can help to develop a better understanding of corrupt practices and craft more effective strategies to target them.²⁴"}, {"bbox": [96, 935, 235, 960], "category": "Section-header", "text": "## Stakeholders:"}, {"bbox": [96, 986, 1136, 1228], "category": "Text", "text": "The **Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP)** is a specialised agency created by legislation²⁵ to investigate and prosecute corruption and related offences, recover and manage proceeds of corruption, and to take steps to prevent corruption. The process to fully establish the Office is ongoing - Government's commitment to the establishment of the Office is evident in the most recent budget statements²⁶ but additional support is required. The new Special Prosecutor, recently appointed, is also reported to be taking steps to ensure staff are employed. He enjoys a good reputation within the country, and has already set up cooperation mechanisms and joint initiatives to fight corruption with the most active, relevant and vocal CSOs active in the country on anticorruption activities and campaigns, in particular the Centre for Democratic Governance and the Ghana Integrity Initiative, with which the Office has recently launched the Corruption League Table as part of its corruption prevention mandate.²⁷"}, {"bbox": [96, 1252, 1136, 1413], "category": "Text", "text": "CHRAJ is an independent constitutional body mandated by the Constitution (Art. 218) to investigate corruption. Although it has no prosecutorial powers, it is able to refer cases to other agencies (such as EOCO, the OSP and the Attorney-General) for prosecution at the end of its investigations. It also has the sole constitutional mandate to investigate conflict of interest and non-compliance with the requirement for public officers to declare their assets (Art. 287). CHRAJ is the lead institution under NACAP, has outreach across the country and significant staff levels, but is hampered by limited budget. CHRAJ have also recently established a Key Accountability Institutions"}, {"bbox": [85, 1444, 932, 1469], "category": "Footnote", "text": "²² Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Country Gender Profile: Republic of Ghana, Final Report, 2013."}, {"bbox": [85, 1468, 863, 1492], "category": "Footnote", "text": "²³ Sida (2015) Gender and Corruption (https://cdn.sida.se/publications/files/-gender-and-corruption.pdf)"}, {"bbox": [85, 1492, 980, 1515], "category": "Footnote", "text": "²⁴ Transparency International (2014) Gender, Equality and Corruption: What are the Linkages? Policy Brief No 1/2014."}, {"bbox": [85, 1514, 503, 1537], "category": "Footnote", "text": "²⁵ Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, 2017 (Act 959)."}, {"bbox": [85, 1537, 1145, 1581], "category": "Footnote", "text": "²⁶ Government has allocated an indicative amount of GHc 170,504,400 for financial year (fy) 2022 (approx. EUR 20.2m), with a slight increase forecast to GHc 194,920,000 for fy2023 (approx. EUR 23.1m) and 212,160,000 for fy2024 (approx. EUR 25.2m)."}, {"bbox": [85, 1580, 1145, 1647], "category": "Footnote", "text": "²⁷ Launched in March 2022, the Ghana Corruption League will be used by the OSP to rank various public institutions on real and perceived levels of corruption. The League is expected to assist the OSP to determine where to focus its attention and is regarded as its flagship prevention project."}, {"bbox": [1038, 1681, 1145, 1706], "category": "Page-footer", "text": "Page 8 of 28"}]