The Executive Director of the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), Mary Awelana Addah, has criticised public officials who failed to declare their assets as required by law, calling for tougher sanctions, including outright dismissals.

This comes after President John Dramani Mahama took action against government appointees who failed to meet the March 31 deadline for asset declaration.

The president has ordered that the said officers forfeit three months of their salary and donate the amount to the Ghana Medical Trust Fund. He has also threatened to dismiss appointees who fail to do so after May 6, 2025.

Speaking in an interview on JoyNews' The Pulse on Monday, May 5, in response to the recent directive by President Mahama, which gave defaulting officials less than 48 hours to comply, Madam Addah said the failure to declare assets before assuming office was a blatant disregard for the Constitution and the authority of the President.

"I think it should have been outright dismissals for most of them, because the President has the discretionary power to do so, but then it is within his mandate to also proffer others, and so giving them less than 48 hours to ensure that it is done is very critical. And I think that going forward, people will take this seriously," she stated.

She added, "what we would have wanted to see is declaring the assets before the assumption of office. And so for me, allowing them to declare and they not doing so means they didn't even recognise the Office of the President and the very specific orders he had made to them during the swearing in."

She, however, welcomed the President’s persistent follow-up on the matter, describing it as a rare and commendable stance not seen in past administrations.

She noted that while the deadline given for compliance is a positive step, it falls short of the level of accountability needed in public office.

"This action, taken during the launch of the new code of conduct, sends a strong message that the President means business," she added.

Though she acknowledged the importance of the President’s directive, Addah emphasised that stricter enforcement should be the norm moving forward to foster a culture of accountability and respect for the rule of law.