CHRAJ receives complaints on Asset Declaration law

The Deputy Commissioner for the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Mr. Richard Quayson has said the Declaration of Asset and Disqualification Act 550 (1998) for Public Office Holders had been one of the most potent tools that had checked corruption in the country.

"Nevertheless the practicality and effectiveness of this law has often been questioned by the public, who have raised various degrees of concerns with regard to the levels of disclosures of such assets by public office holders and public access to information on such disclosures," he said.

Mr. Quayson, who was addressing participants at the close of a seminar on the Asset Disclosure Regime in Ghana, said CHRAJ had also received various reports of allegations of non-compliance or contraventions of the law for intervention and appropriate actions taken on the results of the investigations.

Members of Parliament, legal brains and representatives from agencies responsible for the monitoring and investigation of public officers attended the two-day workshop, which was organised jointly by the GII, CDD-Ghana, United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Audit Service.

Mr. Quayson said nearly 10 years since the law was passed, it was reasonable to question its performance and seek the way forward to strengthening it, promote awareness and support for the new guidelines on conflict of interest guidelines and support efforts to increase information exchange among key accountability institutions.

He urged the public to boldly give genuine leads to information concerning suspected cases of corruption among public office holders to allow the Commission to conduct investigations and establish the facts without much public interferences.
Mr. Quayson, however, cautioned that due to the sensitivity of the nature of Assert Declaration, with its security implications, care must be taken not to violate the privacy rights of such officers when applying the law.

Ms. Linda Ofori-Kwafo, Acting Executive Secretary of Ghana Initiative Integrity (GII), said the seminar which aimed at strengthening the Assets Declaration Law in Ghana, became necessary when GII's survey revealed that Ghanaians, including public officials to whom the law applied, were ignorant of the importance of the Act.

She noted that GII saw an effective asset declaration regime as an effective anti-corruption tool to deter abuse of power, protect public assets and interest and promote integrity.

She called on Government to expedite action on the passage of the Information Bill to facilitate public access to information on activities of public officers and how they used the Government purse.

Source: GNA