Former government appointees under investigation, prosecution did not comply with asset declaration law

When Osei Assibey Antwi was appointed Executive Director of the National Service Scheme in 2021, he was required by law to declare his assets and liabilities before he assumed office or within six months after taking the job.

However, The Fourth Estate has found that five years on, Mr Assibey, who is facing 14 counts of financial crimes for his role in the NSS ghost names scandal, never declared his assets and liabilities.

Through a right to information request, we also found that as of January 19, 2026, Mr Assibey’s two deputies, Gifty Oware-Aboagye and Kwaku Ohene Djan, also had not complied with the anti-graft law, which is meant to ensure that public officeholders do not use their office to enrich themselves.

The trio are among 13 former appointees of former President Akufo-Addo who are currently either standing trial or are under investigation for various acts of financial improprieties. 

Three others who have never fulfilled the constitutional obligation, according to the Audit Service data, include Col Kwadwo Damoah (retired), a former Commissioner of Customs, who has been charged alongside the former Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Attah, for allegedly causing financial loss of more than GHC1.4 billion in the Strategic Mobilisation Limited (SML) contract saga, and Paul Adom-Otchere, former Board Chairman of the Ghana Airports Company Limited.

Before he was elected to Parliament in 2024, Col Damoah served as Commissioner of Customs from May 2019 until his removal in August 2022 but did not comply with the asset declaration law. He also did not declare his assets upon assuming office as a Member of Parliament, data from the Audit Service shows.

Similarly, The Fourth Estate found that Solomon Asamoah, a former CEO of the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund who is being prosecuted for his role in the $2 million “Sky Train” scandal, has not complied with the law.

And then, there is Paul Adom-Otchere, who was appointed as Board Chairman of the Ghana Airport Company in 2021 and is being investigated for his role in the award of a revenue assurance contract between the Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL) and a private company owned by EvaTex Logistics Limited, a company owned by the proprietor of Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Ltd (SML). SML was awarded a similar contract in the petroleum downstream, which has since been terminated.

Partial declarations

Beyond the six who made no declarations, six others made partial declarations either at the start or end of their tenures, making it difficult to possibly track their properties and liabilities before and after assuming office.

Among those in this category is Kwabena Adu-Boahene, the immediate past Director-General of the Signals Bureau, who was appointed in 2017.  It took him more than eight years to declare his assets and liabilities, a flagrant violation of the law, which requires asset declaration within six months of assuming office and within six months after leaving office. Adu-Boahene, who is facing 11 charges, including using public office for profit and stealing, only declared his assets and liabilities for the first time on August 22, 2025, according to the Audit Service data. 

Fugitive former Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Attah, only once declared his assets and liabilities – two months after he was sworn into office on January 27, 2017. For the almost eight years he served in office as Finance Minister, Mr. Ofori-Atta should have declared his assets and liabilities four times. He faces criminal charges, including causing financial loss to the state, using public office for personal profit, and directly influencing the procurement process to obtain an unfair advantage in the award of contracts.

The CEO of the National Food Buffer Stock Company, Abdul Hanan Wahab, who was appointed in 2017, also did not make his declaration until September 5, 2024, nearly eight years after his appointment.

There is also the former Managing Director of the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company (BOST), Edwin Alfred Provencal, who was appointed in August 2019 but did not do his declaration until April 27, 2022.

Mr Provencal’s asset declaration history is not different from that of Professor Christopher Ameyaw-Akumfi, who chaired the board of the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund for eight years but declared on a date mistakenly captured as June 9, 1930, which the Audit Service admits is an error. Professor Ameyaw-Akumfi has been charged with conspiracy to commit a crime – specifically, willfully causing financial loss to the state.

Dr. Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah, former Commissioner- General, GRA, who left office in March 2024, also did not declare his assets and liabilities after leaving office. His initial declaration was done in March 2020.

In the case of the immediate-past Chief Executive Officer of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, he declared his assets in February 2023, almost two years after he was appointed to lead the petroleum regulator.  

The Fourth Estate’s findings come on the back of a recent disclosure from the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) that Mustapha Hamid failed to declare all his properties, as a house he claimed former President Akufo-Addo gifted him was not listed among the assets he declared.

GACC reacts

The Executive Director of the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition, Beauty Emefa Nartey, says that The Fourth Estate’s findings “reinforce our long-standing assertion that a weak asset declaration enforcement regime signals permission for non-compliance.”

“The reality is that when eligible declarants perceive little to no consequences for failing to comply with the asset declaration regime, they naturally do not take the process seriously,” she added.

Ms. Nartey, therefore, made a strong case for the passage of the Conduct of Public Officers Bill, which she believes is critical to the fight against corruption.

“It offers a real opportunity to address the persistent weaknesses in our current asset declaration framework,” she said. “We need His Excellency the President to champion the enactment of a law that includes a robust verification mechanism, clear enforcement procedures, and the consistent application of sanctions. Ultimately, we should build a culture where asset declaration is embraced as a civic duty, and not as a burden. This is essential for strengthening integrity and public trust in governance.”

What does the law say?

Article 286 (1) of the 1992 Constitution states that “a person who holds a public office mentioned in clause (5) of this Article shall submit to the Auditor-General, a written declaration of all property or assets owned by, or liabilities owed by, him whether directly or indirectly (a) within three months after the coming into force of this Constitution or before taking office, as the case may be, (b) at the end of every four years; and (b) at the end of his term of office.”

The Constitution requires the declaration to be made before the public officer takes office. However, Section 1(4)(c) of the Public Office Holders (Declaration of Assets and Disqualification) Act directs the public office holder to meet this requirement “not later than six months after taking office, at the end of every four years, and not later than six months at the end of his or her term.”

Currently, Liberia, South Africa, Tanzania, Cape Verde, and São Tomé and Príncipe are the only African countries that allow the publication of assets declared.

Who must do the declaration?

The laws require that the President, Vice-President, the Speaker of Parliament, Deputy Speakers of Parliament, Members of Parliament, ministers and deputy ministers of State, ambassadors, the Chief Justice and Judges of superior courts submit to the Auditor-General, written declarations of all property or assets owned or liabilities owed by them, whether directly or indirectly. The laws also mandate appointees of other state institutions to declare their assets and liabilities.

However, The Fourth Estate’s investigations last year showed a worringly low compliance rate among ministers, judges, and other public officeholders.