Review Assets Declaration Law - Haruna Iddrisu

Accra, July 9, 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.