Gift threshold in President Mahama's code should have been GH¢5,000 - Asah Asante

Political scientist, Dr Kwame Asah Asante has raised concerns astir the acquisition threshold acceptable successful President John Dramani Mahama’s recently unveiled Code of Conduct for governmental appointees.

The Code, launched astatine the Jubilee House connected Monday, May 5, 2025, is portion of the President’s 120-day societal declaration with Ghanaians.

It sets wide ethical guidelines for appointees nether this authorities including some the President and Vice-President to beforehand discipline, integrity, and accountability successful governance.

A cardinal proviso prohibits appointees from accepting gifts oregon favours from individuals oregon businesses with vested interests successful authorities decisions.

However, gifts exceeding GH¢20,000 indispensable beryllium declared and surrendered upon exit from office, unless the President grants written support for them to beryllium retained.

Speaking connected Morning Starr with Naa Dedei Tettey, Dr Asah Asante said the GH¢20,000 threshold is excessively precocious and could unfastened the doorway to corruption.

He projected a little bounds of GH¢5,000 to reenforce nationalist work principles of impartiality and integrity.

Dr Asah Asante warned that a precocious threshold mightiness promote unethical behaviour nether the guise of acceptability.

The Code besides bars appointees from purchasing authorities assets including land, vehicles, buildings, oregon shares and from utilizing their power to unafraid contracts oregon appointments for household oregon associates.

Violations could effect successful nationalist reprimands, suspension, oregon dismissal. A nationalist portal volition soon beryllium launched to let citizens to confidentially study breaches.

While Dr Asah Asante commended the Code’s broader intent, helium urged the authorities to fortify it further to guarantee a civilization of zero tolerance for corruption.

He said, “I disagree with that too. I privation the threshold to person been 5,000, we are telling you that don’t instrumentality anything. Don’t instrumentality a bully service. Render, due to the fact that arsenic a nationalist servant, you service your radical without expecting anything. You service your clients without passion, without affection, without hatred.

The rule of impartiality, impersonality comes in. Kick yourself retired and bash your work without looking for immoderate reward. The Latin expression, sine epoch est duo, without passion, without affection, without hatred. So each these radical together, we are saying that don’t judge thing due to the fact that that’s all. You are paying for the services that you render to the authorities with each the pets and each that, and you inactive privation to instrumentality what? 10,000.”

He added, “It’s excessively much. It should beryllium 5,000. Telling you that the authorities doesn’t privation this. Because spell to the United States. You person this benignant of codification that exists there. And the threshold is truthful tiny that it’s thing little. You person to surrender it to the state. You person to surrender it to the state. So it becomes thing that you are not adjacent funny in, due to the fact that there’s precise small thing. And erstwhile you spell beyond the law, you are successful nary crucial. So everybody is afraid. But erstwhile you enactment the barroom astatine hand, 10,000. 10,000, yes, for a curate oregon immoderate nationalist appointee, you deliberation it’s not that much. But I archer you, the important magnitude of money, it should beryllium astir 5,000 oregon adjacent little to archer you that don’t judge anything. After all, you are being paid for the work you render. So what’s the meaning of that? Because that is the opening of corruption.”

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