The Auditor General, Mr. Daniel Domelevo has called the current Assets Declaration Act that compels all public offices holders to declare their assets upon assuming office a joke.
He said it is either we forget about it completely as a nation to give the Auditor General space in the office or we should do it well.
“I do not see why we cannot do an online submission of the forms which will be verified and archived electronically,” he added.
Mr. Domelevo was speaking at a round table discussion themed: “Fighting corruption in the public sector of Ghana, the role of Assets Declaration,” organized by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) in Accra on Tuesday.
The Auditor General said public office holders are not under any compulsion to declare their assets because there is no legal punishment meted out to them if they flout the rules and so a majority of them are passive.
“What we are practicing in Ghana is Asset concealment and not Asset declaration, nobody sees what’s in there until the court orders for it when that individual is involved in a corruption scandal,” he said.
According to him, the legislature must strengthen the laws to force all public offices holders to declare their assets upon assuming office, before they leave office and after every four years.
“The laws should be made in such a way that all public office holders are obligated to declare their assets, those who will not comply should not have any business accepting public office appointments,” he added.
He added that the AG’s department like any other government institution is faced with financial constraints that delay the execution of its duties. “Ghana has to look at the whole accountability chain and not narrow it to public office holders only,” he said.
Mr. Domelevo appealed to civil societies, individuals, and all stakeholders to put pressure on Parliament to pass the Bill that will compel public office holders to declare their assets.
