Code of Conduct: A comparison of the 2025 and 2013 versions

President John Dramani Mahama has unveiled a broad Code of Conduct for each his appointees.

The recently designed acceptable of rules, launched connected May 5, 2025, is to formally found guidelines for motivation behaviour, nationalist accountability, and the prevention of maltreatment of powerfulness among each governmental appointees successful his government.

This is not the archetypal clip President Mahama has introduced a Code of Conduct for his appointees; helium implemented a akin model during his medication successful 2013 to usher the behaviour of nationalist officials.

In his bid to show his committedness to promoting accountable governance, transparency, and integrity, President Mahama has consistently reiterated his stance connected upholding these principles and has made it wide that non-compliance by immoderate appointee volition not beryllium tolerated.

2025 Code of Conduct

The proviso of the caller codification forbids appointees from accepting gifts oregon favours from radical oregon organisations that person a involvement successful governmental decisions, among different things.

Although gift-giving is culturally accepted successful Ghana, Mahama emphasised that motivation limits indispensable present beryllium upheld.

“If a acquisition is received during an authoritative engagement and its estimated worth exceeds GH¢20,000.00, it indispensable beryllium declared. And upon leaving office, the acquisition indispensable beryllium surrendered unless the President grants written support for it to beryllium retained,” helium said.

He added that authorities funds, including internally generated funds indispensable not beryllium utilized to acquisition hampers oregon acquisition items.

He, however, made the objection that gifts would beryllium fixed to employees successful grant of their achievements oregon upon their status but adjacent these would request to beryllium approved by the Office of the Chief of Staff and budgeted for.

Nepotism and conflicts of involvement are besides covered nether the Code. According to Mahama, appointees are required to disclose each backstage commercialized interests, peculiarly those connected to authorities organizations. They are not allowed to usage their powerfulness to get appointments oregon contracts for adjacent friends oregon household members.

“Public cognition matters. If your actions springiness adjacent the quality of bias, you compromise the integrity of your office,” President Mahama stated.

The Code besides forbids governmental appointees from straight oregon indirectly acquiring immoderate benignant of governmental property, including buildings, vehicles, shares, and land.

On the contented of ministerial travels, the Chief of Staff indispensable springiness his oregon her anterior support for immoderate question extracurricular of Ghana, whether it beryllium authoritative oregon not.

Additionally, wrong 14 days of returning from immoderate authoritative duty, appointees are required to supply a report.

2013 Code of Conduct

The provisions outlined successful the 2013 Code of Conduct intelligibly defined ministerial conduct, offering guidance connected however appointees should enactment and negociate their responsibilities to uphold the highest nonrecreational standards and debar immoderate struggle of interest.

It consisted of cardinal components specified arsenic a codification of ethics, a connection of values, guidelines connected civility and restraint, rules against power peddling, assets declarations, struggle of involvement and directives connected the usage of budgetary allocations — elements that intimately reflector those recovered successful the recently introduced Code of Conduct.

On the contented of gifts — an country that has resurfaced prominently successful the caller codification — the 2013 Code of Conduct laid retired wide and elaborate provisions. It required that ministers relinquish immoderate gifts to the Secretary of the Cabinet for due display. However, ministers were allowed to support gifts if their estimated worth did not transcend GH¢200.00 astatine the time.

For gifts valued astatine GH¢200.00 oregon more, ministers could clasp them portion successful office, provided they formally declared them successful the involvement of transparency. Furthermore, immoderate acquisition with an estimated worth of GH¢500.00 oregon much had to beryllium relinquished upon leaving office, unless explicit support was obtained from President Mahama to clasp it.

Punishment oregon Sanctions

The 2013 Code of Conduct stipulated that appointees who violated its provisions oregon engaged successful behaviour that prima facie constituted a breach of the rules would beryllium taxable to disciplinary enactment astatine the President’s discretion.

Depending connected the severity of the misconduct, the President could determine whether the appointee should apologise, beryllium formally reprimanded, asked to resign, oregon person their assignment terminated.

These disciplinary measures intimately align with those outlined successful the caller code, which specifies that violations whitethorn pull sanctions ranging from nationalist reprimands and suspension to outright dismissal.

MAG/VPO

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