The founder of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP), Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom wants government to abolish the threshold placed on the non-disclosure of gifts by public officers.
[contextly_sidebar id=”Rm8Sw9me0TKolw3YU6GuO68h8dcbiu3w”]He was of the view that when the threshold removed, public officials will be forced to be more responsible which will in turn reduce corruption drastically.
This comes on the back of Parliamentary debate on the Code of Conduct for Public Officers Bill where Members of Parliament (MP) suggested that the non-declarable threshold value of gifts received by public officers should be raised from GH₵1,000 to GH₵10,000.
The new threshold provoked public anger with many saying it is an avenue for public officers to cover up their corrupt practices.
Dr Nduom in an interview with Citi News argued that there should be no threshold, adding that, every pesewa received should be declared and accounted for.
He questioned the rationale behind the threshold saying, “why should there be a limit? Why should there even be an amount?”
Dr Nduom added that “if it’s one pesewa that goes wrong, money has gone wrong so anything that will be done including bringing an independent prosecutor” to ensure transparency in the system must be adopted to bring sanity in the sytem.
“Whatever we file at the auditor general declaration of asset, we must bring them to light, not just fill forms and go and hide them somewhere.”
Meanwhile, Parliament on Thursday differed the Bill.
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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin