The Alliance for Integrity has launched its No eXcuses Pocket Guide, a corruption-prevention publication for employees in all sectors of the country.
The Alliance, which is a business-driven multi-stakeholder initiative between private sector organisations, civil society, public organisations, academia and international institutions, designed the Guide to provide direction for employees on how to avoid giving reasons or justifications for engaging in corrupt behaviours.
The 29-page Guide features 10 common excuses that employees usually give for indulging in unsanctioned behaviour and offers recommendations on how to deal with those excuses.
Mrs Linda Ofori-Kwafo, the Executive Director of the Ghana Integrity Initiative and the Chairperson of the Alliance for Integrity’s Advisory Group, said the document was originally developed in Germany and had been adapted in Ghana by the Alliance for Integrity’s Working Group on Awareness Creation.
The working group, she said, was made up of experienced professionals from the private sector, businesses, public sector institutions and civil society organisations such as the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition, the Ghana Integrity Initiative, Nestle Ghana Limited and Surfline Communications Limited.
She commended the members of the group for coming up with the publication and adapting it to the local Ghanaian situation.
She entreated businesses to patronise the work of the Alliance by becoming supporters and also getting involved in the various working groups.
Ms Kristine Lartey, the Head of Legal and Compliance at Surfline Communications Limited and a member of the group, presented excerpts of the publication to participants and called on business organisations to adopt the Guide in order to increase their compliance capacities.
Nana Osei Bonsu, the Chief Executive Officer of the Private Enterprise Foundation, called on the private sector to embrace integrity as an essential principle in their operations.
He entreated businesses operating in the country to move beyond making pledges and implement integrity practices, saying; “as businessmen and women, we need to rise above the desire to make profit at all cost even at the detriment of integrity and best practice”.
He commended the Alliance for Integrity for its work and called on the private sector to be involved in the activities of the initiative.
He said the business community stood to benefit immensely from the No eXcuses Pocket Guide and must, therefore, adopt it as part of their employee manuals.
The Guide would be distributed free of charge to employees of various entities in the country through business associations and chambers and could also be secured from the office of the Alliance for Integrity all year round, he said.
The Alliance for Integrity was commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development and implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) to promote integrity among companies, their business partners and other relevant actors.
The Alliance for Integrity is currently active in countries like Brazil, India, Indonesia and Ghana.
Source: GNA/NewsGhana.com.gh
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