MAKE CORRUPTION RISKY BUSINESS (MAY 22, 2009)

ACORRUPTION in public service has been identified as a major obstacle to national development.
In most developing countries, including Ghana, politicians have always touted their commitment to the fight against corruption but they achieve very little when offered the opportunity to govern for lack of the political will to do so.
Article 286 of Ghana’s Constitution states that “a person who holds public office... shall submit to the Auditor-General a written declaration of all property or assets owned by him, whether directly or indirectly, (a) within 3 months after the coming into force of this Constitution or before the taking of office, as the case may be; (b) at the end of every four years, and (c) at the end of his term of office”.
When President J. E. A. Mills assumed office, he gave his appointees seven days to declare their assets and pledged to initiate the necessary legislative reforms to make all his appointees accountable to the people.
Under the present legal framework, members of the public do not have an idea of the assets of public office holders, including their elected representatives, until there is an issue before a competent body of enquiry.
Another obstacle that confronts the fight against corruption is the tendency on the part of the public to point accusing fingers only at politicians.
But under the law, other public office holders who are to declare their assets include top civil and public servants, justices of the superior courts of judicature, ambassadors and high commissioners, members of governing boards and heads of corporations.
If the Auditor-General’s Report on the public accounts of the country is to make any meaningful impact, then the fight against corruption should even include low-grade officers such as storekeepers and accounts clerks in the ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).
Over the years, the reports have contained startling revelations of the wastage in the public service and yet after scrutiny by Parliament, we don’t have any evidence of the prosecution of any public official indicted for embezzlement or misappropriation.
It is against this background that the initiative by the Auditor-General’s Department to include asset declaration forms in the appointment letters of public office holders under the Public Office Holders (Declaration of Assets and Disqualification) Act should be supported by all anti-corruption activists.
It appears that as a people we are paying lip service to the fight against corruption because there is no reward and sanctions regime in place to motivate people to do the right thing or deter them from bribery and corruption.
It is the wish of the DAILY GRAPHIC that as more organisations such as the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition get involved in advocacy programmes against corruption, the government will muster the political will to deal with the canker.
First of all, the government should be able to deal with its own appointees and functionaries who fall foul of the law in order to send the right signals to other corrupt officials that they will not be spared.
We think that Parliament should not make the public hearings of the Auditor-General’s Report a public relations gimmick but demonstrate to the whole world that as the body charged with holding the purse string of the government, it will spare no effort to get public officials to account for the taxpayer’s money.
Fighting corruption is a Herculean task but if the majority of the people declare support for the government’s initiative to break the back of social vices that stand in the way of national development efforts, the battle will be won.