|
Review Assets Declaration Law - Haruna
Iddrisu
Accra, July 9, Ghanadot/GNA-Parliament on
Wednesday opened a new chapter for combating corruption
among public officeholders, calling for a review of the
Assets Declaration Law, to include spouses and children of
such officeholders.
Mr Haruna Iddrisu (NDC-Tamale South) had set the tone with a
statement, saying that, “Ghana’s Asset Declaration, as exist
today is impossible to determine whether a public officer
has acquired disproportionate asset.”
The Assets Declaration of Public Office Holders (Declaration
of Assets and Disqualification) Act, 1998 Act 50 Regime is
currently tool to combat corruption.
Article 286 (1) of Ghana’s 1992 Republican Constitution
requires “a person who holds public office to submit to the
Auditor General a written declaration of all property and
assets owned by or liabilities owed by him directly or
indirectly.”
Such public officeholders include the President, Vice
President, the Speaker of Parliament; the Deputy Speakers of
Parliament; Ministers and Deputy Ministers of State; Chief
Justice; Justices of the Superior Courts; Ambassadors or
High Commissioners and Secretary to the Cabinet.
Other public officeholders are Chairmen, Managing Directors,
General Managers and Heads of Departments of Public
Corporations or Companies, District and Municipal Chief
Executives in the state has a controlling interest and the
Auditor General.
Mr Iddrisu said it was necessary to make verification of
assets open and easy. “Mere declaration of assets is eyewash
and there must be some institutional mechanisms to
cross-check whether what is declared is correct”, the Tamale
South MP said.
“Mr Speaker, I do not believe that mere declarations are
enough as the declaration of assets is not an end in itself;
it is my submission that we develop a new mechanism to
monitor such declarations to compare the income of a person
against his declared assets.
“This is the only way we can check and charge public
officials of illicit enrichments if they are deemed to live
above their modest means and brazenly acquire property and
asset, so that illicitly gained assets can be traced, frozen
or forfeited.”
It has become fashionable to ask of proof of corruption
among public officeholders.
However, Prof. Emmanuel Gyimah-Boadi, Executive Director of
the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), has
described Ghana’s Assets Declaration Regime as “too weak to
be useful, and identified some features of Bad Assets
Declaration regime as difficulty of accessibility to the
asset, real impossibility to verify information, long
coverage period to many exemptions and placing wealth and
property in the name of relatives and children.”
Mr. Iddrisu suggested an independent agency to periodically
and randomly monitor the assets and lifestyles of
decision-makers in public office as well as their families
and associates.
He called for the strengthening of laws that empower the
freezing, seizure, and confiscation of the illicit acquired
wealth of officials found guilty of corruption wherever it
might be and by whomsoever it might be held.
Mr. Samuel Sallas-Mensah, Chairman of the Public Accounts
Committee, announced a that the CDD-Ghana and the Ghana
Integrity Initiative had put a team to look at the
Legislative Instrument for the review of the Assets
Declaration, and called for the physical inspection of
landed property and wealth of public officeholders rather
than putting the assets declared on a sheet of paper and
keeping it in secrecy.
He advocated for the strengthening of anti-corruption
agencies.
Mr Iddrisu Innusah (NDC-Tamale Central) condemned the
flagrant show of wealth by some public officeholders, and
added that the declaration of assets should also affect the
spouses and friends of public office holders.
Mr Edward Korbly Doe Adjaho, Deputy Leader of Minority noted
that Assets Declaration was only one aspect of fighting
corruption, and added that education was crucial for the
fight against corruption, while stressing work to be
expedited on the Right to Information Bill to be made an
effective tool in the process of Assets Declaration Mr. Osei
Kyei-Mensah Bonsu, Minister of State, called for the
strengthening of the anti corruption agencies, adding that,
the law must be made to compel public office holders not to
stay abroad as they were still in office.
Mr Hackman Owusu-Agyemang, (NPP-New Juaben North), said
people entrusted with the responsibility of checking assets
must have impeccable credentials.
GNA
|
