Avoid conflict of interest to fight corruption …staff of state institutions urged

 Staff of state institutions have been urged to help in the fight against corruption by avoiding conflicts of interest in the discharge of their duties at their respective offices.

According to speakers at a workshop on conflict of interest for representatives of state institu­tions, issues of corruption often have elements of conflict of inter­est embedded in them.

The speakers indicated that by steering clear of conflicts of interest, public officials would contribute to the protection of public funds, shield themselves from potential sanctions associ­ated with corruption, and uphold their integrity

The speakers were the Ex­ecutive Director (ED) of the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC), Mrs Beauty Nartey; the ED of the Ghana Integrity Ini­tiative, Mrs Mary Addah; and the Anti-Corruption Director of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, Mr Stephen Azantilow.

The workshop, held in Accra on Friday, was organised by the GACC with the aim of educating public officials on conflict of interest as a key factor in the fight against corruption.

Funded by the Hewlett Foun­dation, it was part of the GACC’s “Building Evidence for Increased Accountability in Ghana through a Multi-Stakeholder Accountabili­ty Initiative” project.

It was attended by public offi­cials from various public agencies including the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, District Court, Audit Service, and Metro­politan, Municipal, and District Assemblies.

Mrs Addah recommended that engaging a third party would help tackle the issue of corruption, ex­plaining, “As humans, we all have interests, and these interests can culminate into conflicts because some are more paramount than others.

“However, one of the measures public officials can use to address conflicts of interest is to imple­ment a third-party mechanism. By not bringing themselves into the equation and engaging a third party to work around it, they can better manage these issues.”

Mrs Addah also suggested that public officials could address conflicts of interest by disclosing their interests or avoiding them altogether.

According to her, there were three types of conflict of interest: actual, perceived, and potential, saying it was important for public officials to identify and contextu­alise these types to manage them effectively.

Mr Azantilow noted that provi­sions on conflict of interest, such as Article 284, were found in the 1992 Constitution.

Additionally, he said the Con­stitution mandates CHRAJ and the Chief Justice to take any form of action deemed fit against any public official found guilty of indulging in any form of conflict of interest.

However, Mr Azantilow stated that taking any form of action deemed fit against such individ­uals as provided by the Constitu­tion “is in latitude” and therefore called for the passage of the Conduct of Public Officers Bill to address such bottlenecks.

For her part, Mrs Nartey urged public sector institutions to find ways of instituting measures to address conflicts of interest.

Failure to institute such mea­sures, Mrs Nartey said, would al­low staff of public institutions to take discretionary measures in addressing conflicts of interest.

She explained that the training was important because there were no legal framework established to guide public offi­cials on their roles in relation to conflicts of interest.

Mrs Nartey added that it would help achieve the ob­jective of the National An­ti-Corruption Plan (NACAP), which is to mobilise efforts and resources of stakeholders in the prevention and fight against corruption.

 BY BENJAMIN ARCTON-TETTEY