November 24, 2017 By Ransford Felix
A policy brief a survey conducted by the Institute of Government Reform (IGR) has revealed how citizens applauded leader of the Alliance Democratic Party (ADP) for taking the lead in publicly declaring his assets.
The six Page Document presented by the institute of policy brief in a press conference conducted by institute of Government reform{IGR], shows disclosure citizens recommendation for proving Transparency and accountability.
The Demand for standard bearers to declare their assets is due to the fact of the lack of public trust in institutions resulting in growth calls, and in some cases, violent protests in many countries as citizens clamor for greater accountability of the institutions or persons governing their lives.
The survey conducted shows that 79% of citizens demands that Presidential candidates declare their assets in the 2018 multi-tier elections before they are voted into office.
The survey was conducted in Freetown in November 2017 to gauge the effect of public declaration of assets of presidential candidate on voter’s attitudes and perceptions of them.
According to the Document, Five hundred [500] interviews were randomly conducted in 50 voter registration centers across the East and West end of Freetown were 497 questionnaires were analysed by valid respondent which comprises of 223 females and 274 males respectively.
The questionnaires proves that the trust level before he declared his asset and after he declared his asset there was a massive shift in their perception about him with regards to his declaration.
This research provides strong support for the asset declaration request in the citizens’ manifesto. Nearly ninety percent of respondents said they would like the candidates they support to publish their assets, with more men [91%] than women [84%] calling for this.
In the recent KAP survey conducted earlier this year, 79.3 of respondents believed that politicians should declare their assets which clearly indicates that the asset declaration is growing popularity.