The Member of Parliament for Gushegu, Alhassan Tampuli, has described the newly launched Code of Conduct for government appointees as inadequate, stressing the need for it to be passed into law to effectively address ethical challenges in public office.
The MP further argued that some of the code’s provisions including those on civility, courtesy, restraint, and influence peddling, appear unnecessary for public service standards.
Speaking in an interview on JoyNews’ PM Express on Tuesday, May 6, the NPP lawmaker said many of the guidelines in the document are basic values that do not require formal codification.
“I think this is an effort which, in my view, cannot adequately deal with the situation we find ourselves in—unless it is enacted into law.
“What I see right now is more or less a courtesy for boys and girls—talking about civility, courtesy and restraint, influence peddling, and so on,” he said.
“There are things that, frankly, you don’t need to put in writing. Some of them, I’m not even sure should be part of a formal code for public office,” the MP added.
He also weighed in on the code’s GH¢20,000 gift threshold for appointees, calling for it to reflect international benchmarks.
“The GH¢20,000 threshold should be aligned with international best practices. Ghana is not an island. Ministers and deputy ministers engage at high levels globally. If our threshold differs significantly from other jurisdictions, it could create conflict,” he explained.
“So yes, we should align with international practices—in Europe, the Americas, and international organisations. What is the acceptable minimum? Then we can talk about compliance. Unless, of course, the GH¢20,000 figure is meant to reflect uncertainty about the value of the cedi in the next 10 or 20 years,” he added.
