The inability of some ministers and deputy ministers in the Akufo-Addo administration to disclose their assets has prompted five Ghanaians to petition the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) to investigate.
The petitioners, who are all Accra and Tema residents, ask CHARJ to launch an investigation into whether the aforementioned ministers' and deputy ministers' failure to disclose their assets violated their oath of office to "preserve, safeguard, and defend the Constitution."
Public officials are required by Article 286 of the Constitution and Section 1 of Act 550 to give the Auditor-General written declarations of all assets and liabilities they have, whether directly or indirectly, before they are appointed, every four years, and at the end of their terms of office.
The petition was created in response to many articles that The Fourth Estate published that revealed that more than 100 public officeholders either failed to disclose their assets completely or did so only in part.
The petitioners, Nicholas Opoku, Lolan Sagoe Moses, Crystal Selorm Amudzi, Francis Boye, and Elias Elias Ashkur, are unhappy with the behavior of these appointments and are requesting that CHRAJ launch inquiries into:
a. The non-declaration of assets by public officials who are not on the list in Appendix 1 (a booklet that contains a list of people who have disclosed their assets).
b. Whether the failure of the aforementioned public authorities to disclose their assets violates their obligations under Article 286 (7) and the Second Schedule of the Constitution to "preserve, safeguard, and defend the Constitution."
In accordance with the Constitution's mandate for CHRAJ in Article 287, take appropriate measures against the defaulting public officers, including but not limited to: a. Directing each of the defaulting public officers to quickly declare their assets to the Auditor-General.
b. Pursuant to CHRAJ's mandate under Section 9 of Act 456, bringing legal actions in court against the defaulting public officers to compel them to promptly declare their assets to the Auditor-General or have them sanctioned for default.
Given the significance of asset declaration as a tool in the fight against corruption, the petitioners claim that "we take a severe view of these constitutional infractions."
An allegation that a public official has violated or failed to comply with a provision of this Chapter must be made to the Commissioner for Human Rights and Administrative Justice, who must then order an investigation unless the alleged offender makes a written admission of the violation or failure to comply.
Section 7(e) of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice Act reiterates this constitutional responsibility (Act 456).
Background
Using the right to information law, The Fourth Estate wrote to the Audit Service on March 4, 2022, requesting information on public office holders who had reported their assets between January 2013 and that date.
On May 17, 2022, the Audit Service replied with the information. The Fourth Estate searched through the two nearly 350-page books but was unable to locate the names of the 27 ministers and deputy ministers of state who had been or were still serving in the Akufo-Addo administration. Since the Akufo-Addo administration began in 2017, these ministers have never disclosed their financial status.
At least 90 additional people failed to completely comply with the asset declaration rules, including the vice president Mahamudu Bawumia, a former senior minister named Yaw Osafo-Maafo, the minister in charge of legislative affairs named Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, and the finance minister Ken Ofori-Atta.
During President Akufo-first Addo's and second mandates, just 19 ministers adhered to the law completely.
Prof. Douglas Boateng, the former board chairman of the Public Procurement Authority, was prohibited by CHRAJ from holding public office for two years in February of this year because he failed to disclose his assets.
A.B.A Adjei, the former PPA boss, was also given a 10-year prison sentence for his involvement in the contract for sale transaction, and the CHRAJ ordered him to declare his assets within three months.
