It has been revealed that the last time lawmaker for Adansi Asokwa, K.T Hammond declared his assets and liabilities was in September 2016.
According to the Asset Declaration Law, he is supposed to have declared his assets and liabilities at least three times after the 2016 declaration. He was supposed to have declared his assets at the beginning of the Seventh Parliament in 2017 and the end of his tenure in 2020.
At the beginning of the Eighth Parliament in January 2021, the lawmaker was again required to declare his assets and liabilities.
Though the information from the Audit Service showed non-compliance, the reporter wanted to crosscheck that fact with K.T. Hammond and other MPs who had not declared their assets and liabilities.
A journalist from Fourth Estate contacted Mr. Hammond through a text message:
“My name is Paul Kofi Gozo, a journalist with The Fourth Estate. I am working on a story regarding MPs who have/haven’t declared their assets. Data we received from the Audit Service indicates that you haven’t declared your asset since January 2021 when you assumed your seat in the Eighth Parliament.
“I would be grateful if you could confirm or clarify whether you have declared your assets as required by the law. This will help me produce a balanced story. Please, get back to me as soon as you can. Thank you.”
In response, the MP angrily said:
“Nonsense. Who gave you that stupid information? And don’t send me such foolish message again.”
Mr Hammond is a six-term MP and has been in Parliament since 2001. The law requires that he should declare his assets and liabilities twice every four years.
But the available data from The Audit Service from 2013 to date, indicates he has done the declaration only once instead of five times.
