Only public office holders can be compelled to declare assets - Prof. Dua-Agyeman
A former Auditor-General, Professor Edward Dua Agyeman, has argued that it is erroneous for the Electoral Commission (EC) to direct non-public office holders to declare their assets before filing their nomination forms to contest the upcoming general election.
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“It is wrong for the EC to direct all aspirants to declare their assets. This is because the Public Office Holders (Declaration of Assets and Disqualification) Act, 1998 (Act 550) is applicable to only public office holders,” he said.
A statement issued by the EC last Tuesday, September 27, 2016 asked all aspirants to include in their nomination forms to the EC a receipt of their assets declaration as part of their eligibility criteria.
Aspirants have up to today, September 29, 2016, to meet the requirement.
The deadline for the submission of nomination forms tomorrow, Friday, September 30, 2016.
Aspiring presidential and parliamentary candidates risk being disqualified if they fail to comply with the EC’s directive to declare their assets with the Auditor-General.
But Prof. Agyeman, in an interview with the Da ily Graphic in Accra yesterday, said the law was very clear on who qualified to declare his or her assets.
That group, he emphasised, comprised only public office holders.
He said farmers, private accountants, private lawyers and other professionals not in public office were not bound by law to declare their assets before filing their nomination forms.
Who qualifies?
Indeed, schedule 1 of Act 550 lists the President; the Vice-President; the Speaker, Deputy Speaker and members of Parliament; Ministers of State or Deputy Ministers; the Chief Justice, Justices of the Superior Courts of Judicature, Chairmen of Regional Tribunals, the Commissioner of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice and his/her deputies, and all judicial officers, including members of the regional and circuit tribunals; Ambassadors or High Commissioners and the Secretary to the Cabinet as public office holders.
Other public office holders listed under Schedule 1 of Act 550 are heads of ministries or government departments or equivalent office in the Civil Service; chairmen, managing directors, secretaries, general managers and departmental heads of public corporations or companies in which the state has a controlling interest; the Governor of the Bank of Ghana and his deputies; the Chairman of the Electoral Commission and his deputies; the Chairman of the National Commission for Civic Education and his deputies; he Heads of Chancery of Ghana’s Embassies or High Commissions; Heads of departments of the Bank of Ghana; officers in the Armed Forces seconded to civilian establishments and institutions; members of the tender boards of the central, regional and district assemblies; officials of Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) not below the rank of vehicle examiner; presidential staffers and aides; an officer of the rank of Assistant Inspector of Taxes and above in the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) or its equivalent in the Ghana National Fire Service, the Ghana Immigration Service, the Customs Division of the GRA; officers of the Police Service and the Prison Service; district chief executives; presiding members and secretaries of metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies; the Chairman of the Public Services Commission and his deputies; the Head of the Office of the Civil Service; persons who are heads of accountants, internal auditors, procurement officers and planning and budget officers in finance and procurement departments of government ministries, departments and agencies, district, municipal and metropolitan assemblies; officers in any other public office or public institution other than the Armed Forces the salaries attached to which are equivalent to or above the salaries of directors in the Civil Service.
“As clearly stated under Schedule 1 of Act 550, nowhere has the farmer and professionals in private practice been listed as public office holders eligible to declare assets,” Prof. Agyeman pointed out.
The 1992 Constitution
Article 286 of The 1992 Constitution gives further guidelines on asset declaration.
Clause (1) of Article 286 states: “A person who holds a public office mentioned in Clause (5) of this article shall submit to the Auditor-General a written declaration of all property or assets owned by, or liabilities owed by, him whether directly or indirectly - (a) within three months after the coming into force of this Constitution or before taking office, as the case may be; (b) at the end of every four years; and (c) at the end of his term of office.”
Clause 2 of Article 286 continues that “failure to declare or knowingly making false declaration shall be a contravention of this Constitution and shall be dealt with in accordance with Article 287 of this Constitution”, while Clause 3 of the same article states that “the declaration made under Clause (1) of this article shall, on demand, be produced in evidence — (a) before a court of competent jurisdiction; or (b) before a commission of inquiry appointed under Article 278 of this Constitution; or (c) before an investigator appointed by the Commissioner for Human Rights and Administrative Justice”.
It has also been stated under Clause 4 of Article 286 that “any property or assets acquired by a public officer after the initial declaration required by Clause (1) of this article and which is not reasonably attributable to income, gift, loan, inheritance or any other reasonable source shall be deemed to have been acquired in contravention of this Constitution”.
Clause 5 of Article 286 also states that the public offices to which the provisions of this article apply are the President and all public office holders listed under Schedule 1 of Act 550, as well as any other public institution Parliament may prescribe.
Effect
Per the explanations highlighted by the laws of Ghana, Prof. Agyeman said, presidential candidates, except President Mahama, were not required to declare their assets.
He argued that the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP’s) Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo; Dr Paa K. Nduom of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP), Dr Edward Mahama of the People’s National Convention (PNC), Mr Ivor Greenstreet of the Convention People’s Party (CPP) and other presidential aspirants were all exempted from declaring their assets.
With regard to parliamentary aspirants, he further explained that Article 286 of the 1992 Constitution had clarified that only sitting MPs seeking re-election and exiting MPs were required to declare their assets.
Prof. Agyeman, who is also a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), accordingly urged the EC to carefully look at existing laws and reconsider its decision.