A former UN senior governance advisor, Professor Baffour Agyeman-Duah, has said that in Ghana’s political discourse, politicians tend to adopt critical thinking caps only when they are not in power.
According to him, most politicians tend to only see better the evils in the party in power when they are not in active politics, but when the tables turn, they act the same way.
In an interview with Citi Eyewitness News on April 23, he said, “Generally, let’s put it this way, but it’s like our government: when a party is in opposition, they see all evil in the party in power, and when the tables turn, they become the same way. In other words, our politicians seem to see better when they are not playing active politics, which is a tragic thing for us,” remarked Professor Agyeman-Duah.
His comments come in the wake of recent concerns raised by Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Senior Presidential Advisor, regarding the lack of transparency surrounding the Public Office Holders (Declaration of Assets and Disqualification) Act, 1998.
Osafo-Maafo expressed reservations about the confidentiality surrounding asset declarations under the law, emphasizing the challenges in verifying the authenticity of these declarations due to the lack of transparency.
“In Ghana, when you become a minister of state or hold positions in various sectors at public levels, the first thing you do is to declare your assets.
“What I don’t like personally about this law is that after you have declared your assets, everything is kept confidential between the Auditor General and yourself, and therefore it becomes very difficult for anybody to challenge the authenticity of your declaration,” he said.
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