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ALL SENIOR GOVT OFFICERS MUST DECLARE ASSETS – CANGO DIRECTOR

By SIFISO DLAMINI | 2024-12-13

All senior government officials, including directors, should declare their assets if the country is to win the war against corruption.

Coordinating Assembly of Non-Governmental Organisations, (CANGO) Executive Director, Thembinkhosi Dlamini said this was because some officials allegedly colluded with suppliers and abused the government procurement procedure for self-enrichment.

Dlamini said the non-declaration of assets resulted in some senior public officials inflating prices during procurement to get their share from the suppliers.

He said to curb these illicit acts, salaries of public officials who fail to declare their assets within the stipulated period should be held until they adhered to the law.

According to the Constitution, Section 239 provides that the Leadership Code of Conduct seeks to ensure that those in leadership, whether elective or appointive are transparent in their activities and accountable to the people they represent or serve.

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It also provides that a person in leadership shall submit to the Integrity Commission, a written declaration of all property, assets owned by, or any benefit gained or liabilities owed by the holder of that office; whether directly or indirectly.

The declaration should be done within six months after the commencement of the Integrity Commission or before taking office as the case may be, also assets should be declared at the end of every two years and at the end of term of office.

Dlamini said declaration of assets should not only be limited to politicians if government had political will to combat corruption within the public sector.

He said officers mandated to sign off public funds for procurement and deciding where government projects would be implemented should also be compelled to declare their assets.

According to Dlamini, in other countries senior public officials were expected to declare their assets, liabilities annually and were also expected to submit their bank statements for easy monitoring of their accounts.

Dlamini said this should also be the case in Eswatini which would make the job of the Eswatini Financial Intelligence Unit (EFIU) easier by having access to the public official’s bank details and Mobile Money accounts.

He said having access to public official’s bank records would assist the EFIU in tracing suspicious transactions.

This, the director said, was critical to strengthening anti-corruption efforts in the country.
“It is not like the suppliers give the senior officials a portion of their funds but instead, they collude with the suppliers to inflate the prices, sometimes by three fold and sign off the procurement documents to get their share in brown envelopes,” added Dlamini.

He said asset declaration would ensure that all transactions and accumulation of funds were above board and not proceeds of corruption and emphasised on the need to have tools in place to assist intelligence units by having access to financial information for public officers so they could analyse transactions.

Commission on Human Rights and Public Administration/Integrity Deputy Commissioner, Duduzile Nhlengetfwa, said principal secretaries were expected to declare their assets within two years of coming into office.

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Nhlengetfwa, however, said some principal secretaries were still within the two-year window period for asset declaration as per the provisions of the Constitution.

She said the commission began the exercise with parliamentarians, especially because they were elected to represent the interests of the electorate and should lead by example.

The deputy commissioner said the politicians were mandated to enact legislation in the interests of the public and also had a mandate to play an oversight role on the Executive.
“Parliamentarians are expected to hold the Executive into account so they need to account themselves,” she said.

Nhlengetfwa said the asset declaration was an ongoing process and some principal secretaries, judges as well as State-owned enterprises senior management such as chief executive officers had also complied with the provisions of the Constitution by declaring their assets.

Pertaining to members of the King’s Advisory Council (Emabandla), she said the commission would first orient them on the importance of asset declaration.

She said the main reason behind asset declaration was for the protection of human rights and prevention of corruption.

Adding, Nhlengetfwa said as a commission, they were previously focused on human rights and now they were exploring the public protection or public administration aspect, hence the on-going exercise.

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