Ghana’s asset declaration law is ‘foolish’, must be replaced - Prof Stephen Adei

According to him, the fact that public officials claim to have declared their assets, but the assets remain a secret does not foster transparency, hence the need to replace the law.

He said this among other things while speaking in an interview with GHOne TV.

“This foolish thing, you declare your assets and it is locked up in a locker and nobody will even see it again. What we need is an open declaration. So that when you go in and when you are going out everybody will know.

“When you are going in and you declare your asset “somebody will say Stephen Addai is lying when he became a Minister of Education he built ten houses.

“If you declare that you have two houses, other people will say you lied and it should be published,” Prof. Adei said, as quoted by starrfm.com.gh.

His call comes at a time the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has charged the former Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, Cecilia Abena Dapaah for failing to declare her assets within 30 days as she was directed.

In a Charge Sheet filed on October 6, 2023, the OSP accused Dapaah of “failing to comply with a lawful demand of an authorized officer of the Office of the Special Prosecutor in the Performance of his function, contrary to section 69(1)(a) of the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, 2017 (Act 959).”

The OSP is investigating her for corruption and corruption-related offences after her resignation on July 22, 2023, following news that huge sums of money in various denominations were found in her residence.