Criminalise unexplained wealth - Haruna Iddrisu

The Member of Tamale South, Haruna Iddrisu, has called for the criminalisation of unexplained wealth in Ghana.

Speaking on the floor of parliament, he emphasised that the importance of declaring assets is to ensure transparency and accountability in measuring a person's income against their earnings, especially for those who hold public offices.

“Declaration of asset is an important ingredient to measure income against a person’s earnings and whether your earnings is commensurate to your income.

“I have argued that probably Ghana must now look at reviewing our legislation criminalizing unexplained wealth and shifting the burden of truth on unexplained wealth to the accused person,” he said.

He argued that the legalisation of unexplained wealth would help combat graft and white-collar crime effectively.

“Because the deputy leader is a very good practitioner of criminal law, he read the Kirk Darko very well and he knows the verdict prove beyond the shadow of reasonable doubt that the onus is always in the state in fighting graft and white-collar crime.

Referring to a recent case involving the former Minister for Sanitation for Water Resources, Cecilia Dapaah, the MP indicated that an act may be immoral but not necessarily unlawful or illegal.

He questioned the correlation between the law's authority and morality, prompting a deeper examination into the country's legislative framework on asset declaration.

“We are the matter of Cecilia Dapaah; a matter may be immoral but not necessarily unlawful or illegal. But where does the law itself tell its power from morality,” he added


NW/DA

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