The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has stepped up efforts to promote accountability in Ghana with a new training programme aimed at strengthening investigative reporting skills.
About 30 journalists selected from the Greater Accra, Ashanti and Northern Regions, last week, took part in the first phase of the programme at the Sunlodge Hotel in Accra. The initiative will continue with sessions on the Right to Information (RTI) law, data journalism and fact-checking.
Experts from Transparency International Ghana, Corruption Watch and the Fourth Estate led the opening sessions, which focused on tracking financial corruption, safeguarding sources and applying Ghana’s key anti-graft laws.
“Our mission is to nurture a new generation of fearless and ethical investigative journalists dedicated to the public interest,” said Rosemond Aryeetey, MFWA’s senior manager for Media for Democracy and Good Governance. “Specifically for this training, we brought journalists together from selected regions in Ghana to upscale them and enhance their capacity when it comes to reporting on corruption issues, teaching them the skills and knowledge to expose corruption and promote transparency and accountability from duty-bearers.”
The programme also tackled the mental strain of investigative reporting. Fourth Estate journalist Seth J. Bokpe stressed the need for resilience and professional support, warning that newsroom pressures and the intensity of corruption investigations “can be overwhelming and take a serious toll on mental health.”
Kweku Lartey Obeng, component manager at GIZ Ghana, described the journalists as “unsung heroes of democracy” and cautioned that “corruption robs the nation of our very future… it steals opportunities from our children, drains resources meant for development, and dashes the hopes of our youth.” He challenged participants to put their new skills into action: “Our expectation is very simple: that the skills and tools you acquire here will translate into impactful stories; stories that inspire change, expose wrongdoing, and hold power to account.”
Participants said the workshop sharpened their investigative skills, expanded their knowledge of legal frameworks and underscored the importance of mental health in journalism. One attendee summed up the call to action: the training “reinforced that every journalist must embrace investigative work to expose wrongdoing and demand accountability.”
The programme, supported by the German Development Cooperation (GIZ) through the Participation, Accountability, Integrity for a Resilient Democracy (PAIReD) project and run in partnership with the Ministry of Finance, continues MFWA’s long record of promoting transparency, ethical reporting and citizen participation.
