Speed up work on conduct of Public Officers’ Bill – GACC  

The Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC) has called on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to fast-track the processes towards enacting the Conduct of Public Officers Bill to help fight corruption in Ghana. 

The President during the opening of the 2023 Bar Conference of the Ghana Bar Association stated that the government was working on enacting the Conduct of Public Officers Bill, indicating that the Attorney-General has undertaken various stakeholder consultations with a number of public sector organisations, civil society, and others.

Mrs. Beauty Emefa Narteh, the Executive Secretary of the GACC, reacting to the statement, said the President must provide Ghanaians with the timeframe for the enactment.

Mrs. Narteh said the bill had been outstanding for a while now as successive governments had failed to pass it into law, adding that it was worrying that the President stated that the proposed bill would now be presented to cabinet.

She added that being able to enact the bill in addition to other measures would show the President’s commitment to the fight against corruption in Ghana.

The bill, according to the President, would follow examples in other jurisdictions like the United States Ethics in Government Act of 1978, the Public Officers Ethics Act of Kenya of 2003, and the U.K. Constitutional and Governance Act of 2010 in addressing issues regarding financial portfolios held by public officers before assuming public office.

The bill, when enacted, would also address public officers’ links to family business, improper enrichment, care of public property, professional practices, property, investments/shareholdings, and other assets, self-dealing, partiality in the performance of duties, and use of public or confidential information to further private interests, amongst others.