Flagbearer of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) Mr John Dramani Mahama has said if he gets the nod to lead Ghana again, his government will enforce Ghana’s asset declaration laws and further publish the documents for public consumption.
Per the current laws, the to-be- public official is required to fill the Asset Declaration Form from the Auditor General’s department and seal it in an envelope marked secret.
The envelope is not supposed to be opened unless a corruption investigation is being conducted against the official and a court or equal constitutional body orders same.
Auditor General, Daniel Domelevo, since taking office in 2016 waged a war against the process. He argued that citizens cannot ensure the veracity of the declaration if it’s secret.
Speaking at the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission Ghana’s final session of their three-day 88th Annual National Convention in Gomoa Pomadze in the Central Region on Sunday, 5 January 2019, Mr Mahama said he will ensure those sealed documents will be published.
He said: “We’ve seen many officers who have failed to declare their assets over a period of time. We must, therefore, strengthen this asset declaration regime and I said that if Allah shines his grace on me and I ever get the opportunity to lead this nation again, I’ll make sure those asset laws are complied fully with. And also move to make sure that the assets of leading public officers are published so that the public get to know what they own when they entered office and what they own when they left office.”