News:
March 8, 2022
Mr. Haruna Iddrisu, Minority Leader in parliament said the country has failed to make corruption a high risk activity and to punish persons associated with it.
According to him, the asset declaration regime is not one that helps us combat corruption because we are unable to measure income and properties being commensurate with income. “So there is a problem, when you have public officers have unexplained wealth or unexplained money in their personal account; or you have public officers acquire properties for which their income cannot justify”.
This, he stated explained the reason why he has been advocating for a reverse burden of prove as an integral part of a revised asset declaration regime for Ghana. “We should have it that if you cannot explain the source of your wealth, that wealth must go back to the state. It means that wealth was unjustifiably or illegally acquired. It is the case in Britain and many other jurisdictions.
The current president Nana Akufo Addo, he noted is unable to pu no his his own for corruption, stating that he was surprised that the Minister of Health is still at post, adding that in every civilised democracy “where you are trialing others for procurement breaches, and you have one in your face, direct who accepts that l breach the procurement processes, I’m only asking for a refund, and he is walking free while others are in court, is begging the rule of law and the principle of equality of the law.
Mr. Haruna who speaking at the side of the 82nd Executive Meeting of the Commonwealth Parliamentarians Association (CPA), Africa Region in Accra currently ongoing also hinted that they are advocating strongly for the reforms of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) which in its 82nd Executive Meeting, is still in the books of the United Kingdom as a charity organization.
“I believe that post Brexit offers the United Kingdom a unique opportunity to regroup and relate better to commonwealth nations in order to facilitate trade and investment, and to build our democracies based on their time tested best practices. It will require amending the law, positioning the CPA not just as a nongovernmental organization, it certainly cannot. There can be no modern justification of the current status of the CPA.
Ghanamps.com