Former Head of Monitoring at the Forestry Commission and good governance advocate, Reverend Charles Opoku, has called on President John Dramani Mahama to take stronger disciplinary actions against appointees who flouted his directives to declare their assets, insisting that dismissal, not mere sanction, is the appropriate response to preserve the integrity of leadership.

Speaking on Adom FM’s Dwaso Nsem programme on Tuesday, Rev. Opoku argued that appointees who disobeyed the president’s instructions to declare their assets should have been named and sacked to send a clear message about accountability and respect for presidential authority.

It’s good that the president has punished them, but they should have been sacked. Leadership is about authority, and all appointees are simply helpers. They must respect the president.

Rev. Opoku emphasised the need to publicly commend those who complied with the directives and expose those who defied them.

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He said in Ghana, junior police officers like constables will not be spared if they overstep their boundaries, but when it comes to senior officials, no effort is spared to exonerate or excuse them from facing the consequences.

Referencing international governance standards, Rev. Opoku noted that in other jurisdictions, institutional heads are held accountable for the actions of their offices.

If President Mahama had set that example by sacking the defiant ones, everyone would sit up, moving forward'

He praised the president’s wealth of political experience and urged him not to squander the high level of trust reposed in him by the Ghanaian people.

He told us on the campaign trail that he wants to correct past mistakes and do what he couldn’t do during his first tenure. Now is the time to live up to that promise.

Rev. Opoku also reiterated the importance of transparency and accountability in governance, urging the president and his team to lead by example in asset declaration.

How difficult is it to declare what you have? We should even be getting to the point of publishing declared assets. It will help avoid needless suspicions.

He expressed support for the president’s recent appointment of a Constitutional Review Committee, describing it as a step in the right direction toward reforming governance structures.