Asset Declaration Issues Emerge Following Sir John’s Supposed Will

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Some issues about the declaration of assets by government officials and public holders have been raised by Governance Expert, Prof. Baffour Agyeman-Duah.

This follows some reports about the alleged Will of former CEO of the Forestry Commission, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie (Sir John).

Speaking to TV3, Mr. Agyeman-Duah said that the content of the documents raises critical issues regarding asset declaration and processes involved in the country, if proven to be true.

According to him, despite processes established to ensure the assets of these public officials are declared upon assumption of office, the procedures to follow after this are not clearly stated.

This he says would have to be reviewed as part of efforts to fight against corruption in leadership.

“I think this whole issue raises more critical issues that we need to confront as a nation as we try to combat corruption in our country. We have the Public Officers Declaration of Assets Act, that requires all public officials to submit their assets to the Auditor General.

“In fact, the law requires them to make the submission before taking office and then at the end of every four years or at the end of their term they are supposed to go back again.

“What the law is not precise about is, after you have submitted the assets to the Auditor General, what happens next?”
Documents emerging in the news on Monday suggest that some elements in the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) already acquired some portions of the Achimota forest lands even before the government returns parts of the forest to the Owoo family.

Page-5 of the last will of Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie (Sir John) available to GhanaWeb suggest that the late CEO of the Forestry Commission together with one Charles Owusu had already secured parts of the Achimota Forest lands.

Sir John in his supposed Will wrote that, he owns 0.987 acres of the Achimota Forest land and he gives his portion to his nephews, Michael Owusu, Yaw Boadu and Kwabena Amoateng, forever.

The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources has however indicated that it is not aware that Sir John owns portions of the Achimota Forest land. It has requested all documents relating to the Achimota lands, as part of an initial inquiry to ascertain the veracity of the claims which are contained in the will of Sir John.