Economy
Public officials to declare the spouses’ income and assets in graft clearance
Friday 07 July 2023
Members of the National Assembly during the session. file image | Denis Onsongo | NMG
Public servants will disclose all of their spouses, income and assets along with their dependent children on their wealth declaration forms if a proposed law seeking to manage conflicts of interest in public office is approved.
The Conflicts of Interest Act 2023 also requires public officials to disclose their spouse’s or spouse’s occupation, income and type of income, financial assets owned, debtors, intellectual property and creditors.
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Corruption investigations and court cases involving public officials indicate an emerging pattern of spouses and children being used to hide wealth acquired through corruption to get around existing laws.
“Public officials disguise the proceeds of corruption in the names of their spouses as legitimate wealth earned by their spouses. Revealing the spouses’ occupation indicates their probable or potential sources of income,” National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Echungwa, who moved the bill in the assembly, told the National Assembly. The daily business.
Under the new law, a public servant will be required within 30 days of being appointed to fill out a form from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) declaring their financial affairs during the year leading up to their appointment.
Disclosures must be updated every two years during the period of service.
Under Income, public officials must list the income earned by the spouses, and distinguish between public income and commercial income.
Meanwhile, the disclosure of financial assets will cover cash in banks and other financial institutions, bonds, stocks and stocks, including shares owned in cooperatives, private and public companies.
In addition, the list must include movable and immovable assets, including homes, land, lease rights, buildings, automobiles, machinery, water vessels, generating stations, and aircraft.
Under debtors’ debt, public servants must list the nature of debts owed to their spouses, including the debtor’s name and amounts owed.
For creditors, the disclosure should include a description of the existing facilities, the name and address of the creditor, the security charged on the facility and its location, the total amount of advances and the related outstanding balance.
Similar disclosures will be made for assets and liabilities registered in the name of dependent children.
“The bill defines situations that amount to a conflict of interest and imposes obligations on public officials to avoid situations that may lead to a conflict of interest,” the bill says.
“It prohibits public officials from engaging in activities that would cause a conflict between private interest and public interest or official duty.”
A public servant will be said to be in a conflict of interest in a situation in which his or her private interests could reasonably be viewed as impairing or affecting the public servant’s ability to act objectively in the performance of an official duty or if he has special interests that could conflict with the duties of the public servant in the future .
This requirement is expected to put the spotlight on the spouses and dependents of public officials in the fight against graft.
Government officers are increasingly accused of graft along with their spouses.
Among the senior government officials who have been charged with graft along with their relatives are former governors Okoth Obadiu, Ferdinand Waitito and Mwangi wa Eriya.
They include Ketraco’s senior director of supply chain Peter Njehia, Jeremiah Kinyua, former supervisor in the KRA’s local tax division, and Nicholas Ochiel, assistant director of valuation at the Ministry of Lands and Urban Planning.
For example, Mr Waitito was charged in 2019 alongside his wife Susan Ndongo with irregular bidding of Sh580m.
The EACC will be tasked with enforcing the disclosures as well as other provisions of the bill when it passes both the National Assembly and the Senate.
Law enforcement agencies must have unfettered access to disclosures and compliance reports made by public officials.
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Public servants who fail to make declarations or make false disclosures face fines of between Sh1 million and Sh3 million or imprisonment of up to two years.
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