The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) is currently investigating 428 public office holders for various violations.
This was revealed at a public forum on “Declaration of Assets by Public Office Holders and the Fight Against Corruption in Ghana,” organized by the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) on Tuesday in Accra.
Giving a breakdown of the figure, Director, Anti-Corruption at CHRAJ, Mr Stephen Azantilow, noted that 284 of the cases were brought to the attention of the Commission in August this year.
Director, Anti-Corruption at CHRAJ, Mr Stephen Azantilow, noted that officials who failed to disclose their assets in 2020 were also under scrutiny.
The laws of the state frown on public office holders not declaring their assets before assuming office.
Article 286 (1) of the 1992 Constitution categorically states that: “a person who holds a public office mentioned in clause (5) of this Article shall submit to the Auditor- General a written declaration of all property or assets owned by or liabilities owed by him, whether directly or indirectly, (a) within three months after the coming into force of this Constitution or before taking office, as the case may be, (b) at the end of every four years; and (b) at the end of his term of office.”
This law applies to the President, Vice-President, the Speaker of Parliament, Deputy Speakers of Parliament, members of Parliament, ministers and deputy ministers of state, ambassadors, the Chief Justice, Judges of the Superior Court, Judges of the Inferior Court, and managers of public institutions in which the state has an interest and submits to the Auditor-General written declarations of all property or assets owned by or liabilities owed by them, whether directly or indirectly.
The Constitution also requires the declaration to be done before the public officer takes office.
However, Section 1(4)(c) of the Public Office Holders (Declaration of Assets and Disqualification) Act directs public office holders to meet this requirement “not later than six months after taking office, at the end of every four years, and not later than six months at the end of his or her term.”
In spite of these regulations, most public officers have not declared their assets before assuming office or within the stipulated period for asset declaration.
CHRAJ has indicated its readiness to combat this by bringing culprits to book.
Explaining why CHRAJ has been unable to keep this under check, he said “we sometimes also feel helpless because when you have a law that does not critically tell you that look if somebody doesn’t declare before he assumes office, or he leaves office or every four years, you should give or mete out sanctions A, B, C and D, it becomes problematic.”
The Commission is therefore pushing for the passing of the Code of Conduct Officers Bill.
“And that is why when the new bill, that is the Code of Conduct Officers Bill came before us we made a lot of input and even the current bill as it is, pending before Cabinet, our proposals for the type of sanctions that should be meted out to public officers depending on the stage in which the person failed to declare their asset has been captured.
“We are hoping that the law will come into force so that we know exactly what to do,” he said.
Source: The Independent Ghana