Pressure group, OccupyGhana has once again written to the office of the President to demand an update on the Draft Conduct of Public Officers Bill, 2022 using the Right to Information Law.

The RTI request dated August 10, 2023, sought to remind presidency of its assurances to take action on the draft bill in its reply to the group’s first RTI request in May, this year.

The group’s letter in May was a follow-up to a similar RTI request they had sent in February 2023, in which they disagreed with the presidency for describing some of the information they were seeking as confidential and secret.

In its August 10 RTI reminder addressed to the Secretary to the office of the President, and copied to the Chief of Staff, the Information Ministry, the Attorney General and the Executive Secretary of the Right to Information Commission, the group said, “We write to inquire whether you have indeed presented our letter and its attachments to cabinet as stated. Further, we reiterate the questions we have consistently asked as follows:

(1) when does the cabinet intend to conclude deliberations and then approve the Draft Bill?

(2) When is the Attorney-General planning to present the Draft Bill to Parliament?

The group emphasized the importance of the Cabinet’s attention, approval and subsequent forwarding of the draft bill to Parliament for consideration and enactment.

It reminded the government that “the delay in passing the bill contradicts the New Patriotic Party's manifesto for the 2020 elections which promised the enactment of the draft bill into law.”

It also said the delay and conflicting actions contradict the recent comments of the Attorney-General when he highlighted in July this year, “the pressing need for comprehensive ethics regulation to govern the conduct of public officers.”

In July, OccupyGhana invited fellow Civil Society Organisations and the media, to join in the campaign to ensure that Cabinet approves the Bill and forwards it to Parliament to be passed into law.

This they say is due to the reluctance of the other institutions to help in the push.

According to the group, their interest in reinforcing the asset declaration regime is to curb the trend where public officers acquire unexplained wealth, especially where their known economic means cannot justify such acquisitions or wealth.

Their advocacy has resurfaced after two house helps, 18-year-old Patience Botwe and 30-year-old Sarah Agyei, along with three others allegedly stole $1 million, €300,000, and millions of Ghanaian cedis being the monies and personal effects of former Sanitation Minister, Cecilia Abena Dapaah and her husband, between the months of July and October 2022.