GII supports calls for verification of asset declaration
Madam Mary Awelana Addah, the Acting Executive Director of the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), has backed calls for the verification of assets and liabilities declared by public officials as a tool to fight corruption.
Speaking to the Ghana News Agency in an interview, he said the call by anti-corruption experts for going beyond the declaration to verification was in the right direction as the current state made it difficult to ascertain the truth or otherwise of the declarant.
She suggested to the government to go back to the practice under one of the PNDC laws, which ensured that assets and liabilities declared by public office holders were published in the gazette.
“Its current state is not transparent enough; there is a need to put some shine on it so that people can look at the things declared and verify them in the communities,” she said.
She added that the publication of the declaration must also cover politically exposed persons and their relatives to help in the corruption fight.
Madam Addah said assets and liabilities declared could be added to or deducted within the term of office whenever new property were acquired, as enshrined in the constitution.
She said any property or assets acquired by a public officer after the initial declaration required that were not reasonably attributable to income, gift, loan, inheritance, or any other reasonable source shall be deemed to have been acquired in contravention of this Constitution.
Article 286 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana states that a person who holds a public office shall submit to the Auditor-General a written declaration of all property or assets owned by or liabilities owed by him or her, whether directly or indirectly.
This declaration is expected to be made before taking office, at the end of every four years, and at the end of his or her term of office.
Clause two of Article 286 stipulates that “failure to declare or knowingly making a false declaration shall be a contravention of this Constitution and shall be dealt with in accordance with Article 287 of this Constitution.”
The declaration, the Constitution noted, would be produced in evidence on demand before a court of competent jurisdiction, a commission of inquiry appointed under Article 278 of the Constitution, or an investigator appointed by the Commissioner for Human Rights and Administrative Justice.
Persons required to declare their assets as enshrined in the 1992 Constitution are the President, Vice President, Speaker of Parliament, Deputy Speaker, and a Member of Parliament, as well as a Minister of State or Deputy Minister.
Other positions are Chief Justice, Justice of the Superior Court of Judicature, Chairman of a Regional Tribunal, Commissioner for Human Rights and Administrative Justice and his or her deputies, and all judicial officers.
Ambassador or High Commissioner; Secretary to the Cabinet; Head of Ministry or government department or equivalent office in the Civil Service; chairman, managing director, general manager, and departmental head of a public corporation or company in which the State has a controlling interest; and officers in the public service and any other public institution as Parliament may prescribe.
Clause (6) of Article 286 stated that “The Auditor-General shall make a written declaration of his assets and liabilities to the President in the manner and subject to the conditions provided in clauses (1) to (3) of this article.”
Source: GNA