Speaker of Parliament, Kingsford Alban Sumana Bagbin, has announced plans to push for a new law that would pave the way for lifestyle audits targeting individuals suspected of holding wealth they cannot account for.

He bemoaned the inhumane flaunting of wealth by some public officials in the face of the average Ghanaian working tirelessly to make ends meet.

“I am currently receiving extensive input to initiate legislation on lifestyle audits. It’s no surprise that this issue is gaining prominence in the speeches of senior officials and civil society organisations. I’m encouraged that the Vice President and the Office of the Special Prosecutor have also begun discussing it,” the Speaker said.

“We will legislate it and put an end to individuals flaunting ill-gotten wealth in the faces of ordinary Ghanaians,” he added.

Speaker Bagbin gave the assurance during an engagement with key anti-corruption and accountability institutions in Parliament on Monday, June 9.

The institutions included the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), the Ghana Police Service, the Attorney-General and Ministry of Justice, Parliament, Economic and Organised Crime Office, Office of the Special Prosecutor, the Audit Service, the Financial Intelligence Centre, the Narcotic Control Agency, the Internal Audit Agency and the National Investigations Bureau.

The heads of these institutions deliberated on the institutionalisation of a National Integrity Award scheme, a key recommendation of the National Anti Corruption Action Plan (NACAP) for the legislature to adopt to curb corruption in the country.

The legislation on lifestyle audits will be part of a wider effort to intensify Ghana's anti-graft campaign. If passed, the legislation will grant state agencies the authority to scrutinize the living standards of public servants, politically connected figures, and private citizens whose lifestyles raise questions about the legitimacy of their income.

Not all are in support of such a legislation. Private legal practitioner and Member of Parliament (MP) for the Manhyia South Constituency, Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah, has warned against the introduction of the lifestyle audit, citing concerns of weaponisation of power and a culture of witch-hunting.

Engaging the media on Tuesday, June 10, he expressed concerns over proposals to formalise lifestyle audits as an independent tool outside the existing investigative structure.

Mr Baffour Awuah argued that key investigative institutions in Ghana, including the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), and the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC), are already constitutionally mandated to audit dubious financial behaviour.

“When you look at what we call lifestyle audit, all the investigative agencies exercising powers mandated under the constitution or their establishing laws have them."

“So when you take an institution like the Ghana Revenue Authority, when they are doing an audit on an institution or a person, they already have that mandate,” the MP stated.