US embassy cable - 04ACCRA56

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ACCRA 000056 
 
SIPDIS 
 
AIDAC 
 
WASHINGTON FOR U/S LARSON, E  SPC. ASST. ANNE PENCE 
(647-9546), EB/IFD/OIA D/DIR MARTHA KELLY OR TIM HAUSER 
(736-4365/4246, AND INL/C DAVID LUNA OR JOHN BRANDOLINO 
(776-4910/4556) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID, KCOR, PGOV, ECON, EINV, EPET, ETRD, GH 
SUBJECT: FOLLOW-UP TO EVIAN SUMMIT ANTI- 
CORRUPTION/TRANSPARENCY DECLARATION: IDENTIFICATION OF 
PILOT COUNTRIES 
 
REF: SECSTATE 2003 345287 
 
1. Summary. Anti-corruption and transparency are 
critical issues in Ghana.  While the G-8 program could 
add value to on-going anti-corruption and transparency 
initiatives in Ghana, and while we think Ghana could 
ultimately participate successfully, the timing is not 
good for including Ghana as one of the pilot countries. 
2004 is an election year and the Government of Ghana 
(GoG) is heavily engaged in advancing the Ghana Poverty 
Reduction Strategy (GPRS) and developing and 
implementing its various sector strategies. It is 
unlikely the GoG could make the necessary commitments 
to ensure it would serve as a successful pilot partner. 
We are eager to learn more about the program and would 
encourage Ghana to participate in the program once it 
gets underway. We have consulted with our in-country UK 
counterparts, including the Deputy High Commissioner 
and DFID.  They support this conclusion. End Summary. 
 
2.  Post would probably have no difficulties in getting 
the GoG to sign onto such a pilot program. However, 
implementing such an initiative will face a number of 
hurdles. For one, it may be difficult to have the GoG 
assign personnel with the time and skills to engage on 
this to ensure that all of the GoG's responsibilities 
are implemented. Moreover, there will likely be 
internal resistance within the civil service to 
following through on such an initiative. In the case of 
the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative 
(EITI), DFID indicates that the GoG has made a number 
of promises, but the government institutions are 
lagging behind in the implementation. Furthermore, DFID 
fears that if Ghana is selected as a pilot country that 
the efforts under the G-8 anti-corruption and 
transparency initiative would duplicate efforts already 
underway in their current EITI project in Ghana. 
 
3. Since 2004 is an election year, the GoG would be 
more than happy to showcase any transparency efforts 
that put them in a positive light but will be less than 
eager to showcase efforts that reflect badly on them. 
The GOG would likely put a positive spin on its 
participation and use the efforts to win political 
favor. The challenge would be to ensure that there is 
real substance behind any actions the GoG is pushed to 
take. 
 
4. Current and ongoing anti-corruption and transparency 
activities include the following: 
      World Bank and DFID program in Public Financial 
     Management; 
    Country Financial and Accountability Assessment in 
2001; 
    World Bank (supported by DFID) program on 
procurement reform; 
    World Bank governance and anti-corruption program; 
    US Treasury Tax Administration Program; 
      USAID funded wide area network and case management 
     system for the Commission on Human Rights and Justice 
     (CHRAJ); 
      USAID program to increase capacity of civil 
     society organizations to work with local government to 
     improve government accountability and responsiveness to 
     citizens, through public hearings on programs, budgets, 
     corruption, and tendering; 
    DFID governance and anti-corruption program; 
    DFID EITI project; 
    DFID public financial management and reform 
program; 
    DFID civil service reform program; 
    GTZ good governance program; 
    Netherlands training for national audit offices; 
and 
    Netherlands anti-corruption capacity building for 
municipalities. 
 
cipalities. 
 
5. It is critical that any anti-corruption initiative 
in Ghana add value to existing initiatives, including 
World Bank support to the implementation of the Public 
Procurement Act and the Country Procurement Assessment 
Review (CPAR) Action Plan and the Ministry of Finance 
and Economic Planning's (MoFEP) Short Term Action Plan. 
Furthermore, there are a range of issues that need to 
be addressed to improve the overall anti-corruption and 
transparency environment. These include the following: 
      Developing equitable and meaningful wage policies; 
      Passing comprehensive anti corruption legislation 
     - encompassing a reasonably comprehensive and 
     unambiguous definition of bribery and corruption, 
     credible access to information and whistle-blower 
     encouragement and protection laws, and clear guidelines 
     on conflict of interest; 
    Strengthening the independence and capacity of 
constitutional and statutory oversight bodies; 
    Promulgating and enforcing credible asset 
set 
declaration regulations, especially ones that conform 
to international best practices (such as easy 
verifiability and easy monitoring); and 
      Initiating public service reforms with a view to 
     redressing the culture of secrecy, promulgating a 
     credible wage policy. 
 
6.  While the G-8 initiative appears to be a very 
interesting program, the timing is unfavorable for 
including Ghana as a pilot country.  However, we are 
anxious to know more about the program and would very 
much like Ghana to participate once it gets underway. 
If Ghana is selected for either the pilot or the 
mainstream program, it will be critical to have 
sufficient funds to provide for technical assistance, 
training and management oversight.  USAID/Ghana has no 
resources to draw upon for such a program.  Additional 
funds will be required to provide the appropriate 
program inputs and oversight. 
 
YATES