Assets declaration “is one useless” requirement in the constitution – Ex-High Commissioner to Canada

Public office holders in Ghana are mandated to declare their assets before they assume office, as required by the constitution.

They are mandated to submit a written declaration of their properties, assets, and liabilities to the Auditor-General. 

This is to prevent corruption, abuse of power, and conflict of interest, and to promote accountability, transparency, and public trust.

However, a former High Commissioner to Canada, Professor Ivy Magaret Amoakohene,  has labelled the asset declaration provision as “useless.”

“And so, for me, it is one of those useless exercises we have in our constitution, and maybe we have to have a second look and see what we can do,” she said in an interview on Joy News on January 12, 2024.

On her part, the institutions that oversee this corruption check requirement aren’t effective  in the discharge of their duties.

She says the forms on which the said assets are supposed to be declared are left unchecked and unattended. 

“What I know is that perhaps our institutions to check corruption are not rigorous enough, so you have been appointed a High Commissioner; you are supposed to complete your asset declaration forms and nobody gets to see what it is,” she mentioned. 

Sighting her case as an example while assuming office as a member of the Council of State, she shed light on her personal experience with the asset declaration process during her tenure.

She asserted that the processes she went through to declare her assets were not only inefficient but also lacked transparency.

“In fact, I have forgotten what I wrote in mine because you take it to the Auditor General; when you get there, the officer takes it, puts it somewhere and it is stacked away somewhere, so how do you know that what I have in there is actually my property?” she added.

Professor Amoakohene argued that if individuals claim to possess certain assets, they should be required to provide proof, especially given their roles in public office.

“If I say that I have 3 houses, I should show proof that these are my houses, because your interest is what I have acquired in public office, and you want to see what I have at the end of the service, which is something I have acquired during the service or it is a something I had already.

“And you fill out a form and nobody gets to know what is in there, not even the Auditor General himself.