Declared Assets To Be Verified

Ministers designate and would-be political office holders in the Kufuor Administration will have to declare their assets before taking office in fulfilment of constitutional provisions.

The assets declaration forms would then be subject to verification at the Auditor General's Office. In addition to verification, periodic assessment for the public to know who acquired what in public office would also be carried out. These provisions under Article 286 for all pubic office holders have in the past not been strictly implemented, but in his inaugural speech, the President, Mr. J.A Kufuor, pledged to wage war on corruption and set a personal example to that effect. And assets declaration before and after leaving office is the measuring rod for ensuring transparency, honesty and accountability by public officials.

The Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), a charter of Transparency International, has expressed frustration over the previous government's handling of assets declaration. The Executive Secretary of GII, Mr. Yaw Asamoah, said verification of assets as provided by the Constitution and a periodic assessment of the records at the Auditor-General's Office till the end of the appointees term of office is the only way to tell whether property was acquired genuinely or fraudulently by public officials. He explained that verification would also prevent the situation whereby public office holders abuse the system by over declaring their assets.

He was contributing to a roundtable discussion on "Towards Peaceful Alternation of Power in Ghana: Resettling the outgoing President and other Transitional Issues," organised by the Center for Democracy and Development.

In the twenty-year rule of the PNDC and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration corruption has permeated the fabric of the society. This has brought much criticism from the public especially when it is perceived that courtesy of the Greenstreet Report, former government appointees are entitled to state largesse after all that they have acquired.

That is the yardstick the NPP government will have to contend with.