5 persons petition CHRAJ to investigate, take action against public officers who have failed to declare their assets
They note that pursuant to a right to the information request made to the Audit Service on March 4, 2022, by the Fourth Estate, an Accra-based media organization, the Audit Service, on May 17, 2022, supplied information on public office holders who had declared their assets from January 2013 up to that date.
Five(5) Ghanaian citizens have petitioned the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice(CHRAJ) to investigate and take appropriate action against public officers, including some current ministers and deputies who have failed to declare their assets despite its requirement under Article 286 of the 1992 Constitution and Section 1 of the Public Office Holders Act, 1998 (Act 550).
They note that pursuant to a right to the information request made to the Audit Service on March 4, 2022, by the Fourth Estate, an Accra-based media organization, the Audit Service, on May 17, 2022, supplied information on public office holders who had declared their assets from January 2013 up to that date.
Also according to their petition dated June 14, 2022, Article 286 of the Constitution and Section 1 of Act 550 place an obligation on public officers to submit a written declaration of all property or assets owned by, or liabilities owed by them, directly or indirectly, to the Auditor-General;
(i) before taking office,
(ii) at the end of every four years, and
(iii) at the end of their term of office.
They further indicate that given the importance of asset declaration as a tool in the fight against corruption, they take a serious view of these constitutional violations.
Moreover, the petitioners state that pursuant to Article 287 of the Constitution “An allegation that a public officer has contravened or has not complied with a provision of this Chapter shall be made to the Commissioner for Human Rights and Administrative Justice…who shall, unless the person concerned makes a written admission of the contravention or non-compliance, cause the matter to be investigated.”
They are therefore calling on CHRAJ to
1.Open investigations into:
- the failures of public officers not listed in Appendix 1 to declare their assets; and
- whether the failure of the above-mentioned public officials to declare their assets amounts to a breach of the oaths of office they swore to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution” as mandated by Article 286 (7) and the Second Schedule of the Constitution
2. Take appropriate action against the defaulting public officers pursuant to CHRAJ’s mandate in Article 287 of the Constitution, including but not limited to:
- directing each of the defaulting public officers to promptly declare their assets to the Auditor-General; and
- initiating legal actions at the courts against the defaulting public officers to compel them to promptly declare their assets to the Auditor-General or have them sanctioned for default, pursuant to CHRAJ’s mandate under Section 9 of Act 456.
Additionally, the petitioners; Nicholas Opoku, Lolan Sagoe-Moses, Crystal Selorm Amudzi, Francis Boye, and Elias Elias Ashkur have pledged their willingness to assist the Commission in respect of any actions it deems appropriate pursuant to the petition.