Accra, Dec. 18, – Reporters investigating Illicit Financial Flows (IFF) pinpointed resistance from major government agencies as a key obstacle to impactful coverage, noting frequent failures or delays in responses to Right to Information Act requests.
While some entities like the Ghana Audit Service earned praise for timely and helpful replies, many others ignored or stalled queries.
These issues surfaced at a two-day MFWA-organized forum on reflecting and sharing insights into IFF probes, tax justice, and domestic resource mobilization. Attendees spanned journalists, civil society groups, regulators, women's rights advocates, and public accountability bodies.
Ms. Winifred Lartey, a 2025 Next Generation Investigative Journalism (NGIJ) fellow, told the Ghana News Agency a major structural data void demands fixes. She advocated for direct journalist access to records from public and private sources, bypassing current interpersonal hurdles.
NGIJ fellow Mr. Ibrahim Khalillulahi Usman urged awareness campaigns for officials to value media roles. “I think public institutions need to understand that journalists are their partners and we are not enemies. Some think because you are requesting an information from them so it might go against them,” he said.
Over three years, the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has run the “Tax for Development: Strengthening Civil Society and Media for Fiscal Justice” initiative to equip media and activists in advancing fiscal fairness, accountability, and anti-IFF efforts.
MFWA Senior Programme Manager Madam Rosemond Ebi-Adwo Aryeetey said the raised challenges offer valuable lessons, spurring collaboration between project teams and officials to resolve them.
GHBUSS
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