The Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), the local chapter of Transparency International, has expressed concerns about a key aspect of former President John Mahama’s newly unveiled Code of Conduct for public office holders—specifically, the threshold for declaring gifts.
While welcoming the broader intentions of the Code, GII Executive Director Mary Addah questioned the decision to set GHS20,000 as the minimum value for mandatory gift declarations.
“To say again that his appointees must declare any gift that they have received that exceeds GHS20,000 – For us in the civil society and for us in Transparency International, we believe that is a huge amount,” Addah stated.
She argued that the threshold does not reflect the financial realities of the majority of Ghanaians, including many in the public service.
“Looking at the minimum or average wage of the Ghanaian, even those in the middle class—I believe directors in various sectors—do not get GHS10,000 to go home with,” she noted.
Addah warned that such a high benchmark could allow substantial gifts to remain undeclared, thereby weakening efforts to ensure transparency and accountability in public office.
“Based on what we set that minimum benchmark of GHS20,000, it’s an issue we can interrogate going forward,” she added.
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