PAC favors asset disclosure prior to assuming public office
The Public Appointments Committee of Parliament has recommended that all new public hires should be declaring their assets before assuming office in order to safeguard public funds.
This was said at a meeting held on Wednesday at the Parliament Building in Lilongwe with the Office of the Director of Public Officers’ Declaration (ODPOD), where they provided an evaluation of the performance of different ministries, departments, and agencies.
The majority of MDAs in the central region have done well; 39% of the institutions have attained a 100% compliance rating. Malawi Police Service registered the highest number of defaulters at 575 because of the number of LPOs at 3.147 percent.
Committee Chairperson Joyce Chitsulo advised that the declaration of assets should be taken seriously and everyone should do so, including politicians and those in the private sector before they assume office.
“To ensure the protection of public resources and to know what they have before assuming office, we want everyone, including political aspirants, to declare assets before assuming a public office,” Chitsulo said.
Michael Chiusiwa, the Director of Public Officers’ Declaration (the Directorate), stated that although the process of making sure public officers declare their assets proceeds smoothly, manual administration of declarations has proven difficult and expensive to finish.
“The directorate is still working on going online in the near future to ensure that the exercise is effective and does not consume much time,” Chiusiwa informed the lawmakers.
He further said late submissions of declarations by declarants and not updated staff returns by institutions made it difficult to finish the exercise in good time.
The director highlighted that both compliant and non-compliant names of LOPs are expected to be published in a gazette this coming June, with K25 million of UNDP funding underway at government printers.
The ODPOD is mandated to enforce the declaration of assets, liabilities, and business interests by certain public officers and related matters. It also promotes public confidence in the public service by receiving, verifying, and publicizing public officers’ declarations and educating the public on the declarations.
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