A professor of law, H. Kwasi Prempeh has challenged Ghanaian Politicians to follow the example of Nigeria’s President-elect General Muhammadu Buhari, who voluntarily declared his assets on social media ahead of the party’s recently held elections.

In the unsolicited declaration of his assets, the former military leader, who is famed for his anti-corruption stance posted on Facebook that: “I have at least one million naira in my bank, having paid N5.5 million to pick my form from my party.”

“I have around 150 cattle because I am never comfortable without cows.

“I have a house each in Kaduna, Kano, and Daura, which I borrowed money to build.

“I never had a foreign account, since I finished my courses in the USA, India and the UK. I never owned any property outside Nigeria. Never.”

Prof Prempeh bemoaned that despite Ghana having taken a lead in multiparty democracy ahead of Nigeria, Buhari’s example puts him miles ahead of his Ghanaian contemporaries.

“Ghana has been at this game since 1992 and not once has a single politician deemed it right to set the example and precedent Buhari just set by making a public, unsolicited declaration of his assets. (Lolan Ekow Sagoe-Moses has reminded and corrected me, below, that the "unforgettable" Paa Kwesi Nduom did so in the 2012 campaign).

“When Tanzania's Benjamin Mkapa, facing a less competitive election some years back (in the 1990s), did a similar thing during his election campaign, I remember thinking at the time what a political game changer it could be, as a demonstration of a commitment to anticorruption and transparency, if some major candidate in a Ghanaian presidential election would do a similar thing.

“I even tried to test-market the idea informally among some of my "political animal" buddies. Needless to say, despite asset declaration provisions in our Constitution and statutes, we still have no way of telling what our public officials enter public life with and what they are worth after that. Most enter poor (rich), leave rich (richer); no questions asked!

“Anyway, I think Nigeria's President-elect has done a very commendable thing. It may be symbolic, but symbolism of this kind has its place and sends the right signal. Leadership by example often relies on a fair amount of sincere symbolism. Let's hope the former General, remembered by Nigerians (no less) as an austere and incorruptible man, translates this into credible change once he gets rolling,” Prof Prempeh posted on Facebook.

Ghana's constitution requires that public office holders declare their assets upon assumption of office but the entire process is veiled in secrecy, since the declarations are never made public.

Anti-graft bodies such as the local chapter of Transparency International, Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) have consistently complained about the violation of the assets declaration law by Politicians.