President John Mahama yesterday launched a code of ethics manual for ministers of state and other government appointees, with a call on public officials to guard against bribery and corruption.
Last week, Parliament constituted a seven-member ad hoc committee to draft a code of conduct to guide Members of Parliament (MPs).
Some have already argued that these initiatives by the two arms of government are superfluous, as existing regulations deal adequately with how public office holders are to conduct themselves in office.
Chapter 24 of the Fourth Republican Constitution has very clear and elaborate provisions on the code of conduct for public officials.
The chapter frowns on conflict of interest issues, provides guidelines on the declaration of assets and the sanctions thereof if any public official breaches the regulations.
Although it is said that too many cooks spoil the broth, we think that the efforts by the two arms of government to set out clear values and standards to underpin their actions must be commended.
However, we should be concerned about how the President and the leadership of Parliament will implement the codes of ethics to achieve the goals set out in their visions for the country.
We expect the Presidency and Parliament to implement their respective codes effectively to get all public officials to understand the difference between right and wrong.
Our inability to enforce codes of ethics for public officials, as enshrined in the Constitution, explains why we have big issues with the public accounts of Ghana.
Every year when the Auditor-General releases his report on the audited accounts of Ghana, startling revelations pop up about public officials who mismanage or misapply public funds.
It is in this vein that we welcome the admonition by the President to his appointees that “the stringent way to prevent unacceptable conduct and abuse of office by public officials is to demarcate the ethical boundaries within which actions and inaction can be deemed to be acceptable or unacceptable”.
The country is faced with many challenges with transparency and accountability in the disbursement of public funds, to such an extent that the government is always struggling to find the money to address the development challenges.
Nobody needs a reminder here, as the spectacle of the yawning development gap stares everybody in the face.
In this day and age, we still have schools under trees, lack health facilities in our rural communities and have poor road networks, not to talk about schools without trained teachers and hospitals without health professionals.
Unless we apply the brakes on the way in which some public officials are misapplying and stealing state funds, the development gaps will continue to deepen.
The Daily Graphic keeps reminding the government to make corruption a risky business in the country by ensuring that culprits are punished severely to serve as a deterrent to others.
The bane of our development is the twin canker of bribery and corruption. We have to change strategies if we are to succeed in the fight against corrupt officials.
Let us hold ourselves, including all public officials, to high ethical and moral values, so that, in the words of the President, we can “maintain a clean government”.
Daily Graphic/Ghana
