Dr. Emmanuel Akwetey, Executive Director of the Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG), has emphasized the importance of implementing robust mechanisms to verify the asset declarations of public officers in order to promote greater transparency and accountability in governance.
Speaking at the National Economic Dialogue, Dr. Akwetey commended former President John Dramani Mahama for publicly declaring his assets, setting an important precedent. However, he stressed that asset declarations alone are not enough and called for the Auditor-General to be tasked with verifying these declarations.
“There is a need for verification of declared assets by the Auditor-General. The president set the standard by being the first to publicly announce his asset declaration, and we all witnessed it on television,” he said.
Dr. Akwetey also encouraged all public officers to follow Mahama’s example, advocating for more transparency in asset declarations. However, he raised concerns about whether such declarations would be made publicly accessible to allow citizens to assess them.
“But we think all public officers should follow suit. However, it’s not clear whether this information will be made public, so that citizens can assess it as part of their role in holding leaders accountable,” he added.
In addition to asset verification, Dr. Akwetey called for reforms to separate the legislative and executive functions to improve checks and balances in governance. He expressed concerns about the current dominance of the ruling party in Parliament, warning that a lack of political consensus could deepen divisions and impede necessary constitutional reforms.
“It is critical to separate parliamentary functions from the executive to ensure checks and balances. However, with the ruling party holding a dominant majority, there’s a risk they could push reforms in their own way, which could intensify divisions. Constitutional reforms require broad consensus, even if they are not entrenched,” he cautioned.
Dr. Akwetey’s comments highlight the need for institutional reforms to strengthen democracy, ensure transparency, and promote inclusive governance in Ghana.
