The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has organized a-day’s sensitization workshop for journalists in Ashanti Region on the Guide for Journalists on Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs), Progressive Taxation, Reserved-Based Lending and Domestic Resource Mobilization Reporting in Ghana.
The workshop aimed at equipping editors and journalists to effectively report on IFFs and their implications for government revenue and expenditure.
The programme put together by MFWA with funding from the Norwegian Agency for Development through OXFAM in Ghana, was part of the “Tax for Development Strengthening Civil Society and Media for Fiscal Justice” Project.
Beneficiaries were taken through core concepts and definitions in IFFs, practical investigation techniques and methodologies, critical tools and resources for media practitioners, legal and ethical considerations, which are all enshrined in the Guide.
Dr Bishop Akolgo, a Consultant on Illicit Financial Flows, explained that IFFS diverted resources away from schools, clinics, roads and reduced the capacity of the government to act compassionately towards the weaker members of the society.

It also undermined the ability to negotiate with government partners and forced them to go cup in hand begging for money, adding that, if Ghana blocked the loopholes arising from IFFs, the country could harness enough resources to undertake developmental projects.
IFFs occurred in several channels including trade mispricing, illegal trade, and money laundering.
Dr Akolgo therefore emphasized the need to ensure that journalists were well informed and mobilize citizens to put pressure on duty bearers to act in ways that would bridge the gaps and prevent the leakage of resources from the country.
He appealed to government mandated institutions including the Bank of Ghana, Ministry of Finance through the Ghana Revenue Authority, Financial Intelligence Center and the Auditor General and Civil Society Organizations, to ensure that we combat IFFs.
He said Ghana was currently not doing enough, explaining that there was no inter-agency coordination to better address these activities.
It was necessary for agencies to work in a more coordinated manner to stem down the menace.
Madam Rosemond Ebi-Adwo Aryeetey, Senior Manager, Media for Democracy and Good Governance, MFWA, noted that IFFs were a very green area for the media, the complexities and the nuances that it presented when one had to report effectively, and expose was lacking among journalists.
To address these challenges, the MFWA has organized a series of training on IFFs for the media and explained that the education on the new Guide was a step higher to divulge comprehensively on the topic.
She urged the media to work with the guide, immerse themselves and familiarize themselves with the various tools for effective reports to further reduce the losses accrued due to IFFs.