IDEG calls for amendment of Assets Declaration Act

A Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Democratic Governance (IDEG), Mr Kwesi Jonah, has called for the amendment of Article 286 of the 1992 Constitution which requires public office holders to declare their assets before assuming office.

He described the provision as problematic because it did not allow adequate time for public office holders to compile all their assets prior to the assumption of office.

“For many people, they have the assets, but they have not compiled them and, therefore, need time to do that. It is very difficult to do all that before you assume office,” he said.

Mr Jonah made the call at a stakeholder consultative meeting on the development of the fourth Open Government Partnership (OGP) Action Plan.

He also said the constitutional provision was not consistent with the Public Office Holders Declaration of Assets Act, 1998 (Act 550), which states that public office holders should declare their assets within six months of assuming office.

“There must be some amendment, so that the act and the Constitution will agree on a reasonable time for the declaration of assets,” he added.

The OGP is a global initiative that brings government leaders and civil society advocates together.

It is aimed at promoting transparency, empowering the citizenry, fighting corruption and encouraging the use of new technologies to improve governance.

Lack of verification

Mr Jonah also said the challenges related to the declaration of assets were not simply about the secrecy of the whole exercise but rather the lack of verification.

He, therefore, suggested the need to empower the Auditor-General to verify assets declared.

“The problem is not the secrecy but the non-verification. Nobody verifies whether what you have said you have is actually true. The A-G should be empowered, and it should be part of the normal audit to verify the assets.

“Some people talk about making the assets public. No, this is not correct; the privacy of the individual must be respected, but the A-G should have the authority to verify,” Mr Jonah said.

The fellow, who has been engaged as a consultant to help review the country’s previous action plans under the OGP and lead the process for the development of the fourth one, also called for the need to identify and publish the names of non-compliant officers.

“If you have not complied and have not declared assets at all, your name should be published, so that you are compelled to comply with the law,” he added.

Open governance

The Senior Presidential Advisor, Mr Yaw Osafo-Maafo, said the OGP presented an enormous opportunity for the country to demonstrate to the people and the international community its commitment to pursue an open government.

He said the government had shown great commitment to realise some achievements under various thematic areas through the implementation of three OGP national action plans.

“Key among them, under transparency and accountability, is the establishment of the Office of the Special Prosecutor, the passage of the Fiscal Responsibility Act and the passage of the Companies Act, 2019 (Act 992).

“In March 2019, the Right to Information Act was passed and became operational in January 2020, an important instrument for the promotion of transparency and accountability,” he added.

With the country due to submit its fourth national action plan, Mr Osafo-Maafo said, it was imperative that civil society organisations and the government came together to discuss and identify key priority commitments.

“It will also look at sensitising existing and potential implementation institutions and agencies on OGP to secure their buy-in, review past approaches and strengthen opportunities for interaction between the government and CSOs on their role in development through the open governance process,” he said.