Kuwait officials call for action against corruption
KUWAIT: The Anti-Corruption Authority organized a workshop yesterday at its headquarters in Shamiya to educate the public and officials in leading positions about rules that govern financial disclosures and how to file such reports. The workshop explained how to fill up the forms on the Anti-Corruption Authority’s website to receive feedback and dates of submission easily. The site includes a link to submit financial disclosures electronically.
Ahmad Al-Rumaihi, Secretary General of the Authority, assured concerned citizens that their information is secure. “The authority ensures the confidentiality and privacy of information and data submitted through the system,” he said. “Finding remedies has become an inevitable national task that warrants tackling,” Rumaihi said, adding the workshops are part of moves to combat corruption and define financial disclosures as stipulated by law no. 24 of 2012, based on which the authority had been established. Salem Al-Ali, Assistant Secretary General of the Authority, revealed that the body will start receiving these forms in the coming weeks, when it starts work. The workshops being held from Feb 1 to 5 tackle financial disclosures by directors of government departments, authorities and establishments, members of boards, deputies, assistants and those who serve in key posts in companies where the state has stakes of more than 25 percent. One of the workshops will focus on undersecretaries, their assistants, experts and judicial figures. In Sept 2003, the United Nations concluded the United Nations Convention Against Corruption, to which Kuwait has acceded pursuant to law no. 47 of 2006. In 2012, the Anti-Corruption Authority was established by law no. 24, which stipulates that a public authority will be established and supervised by the minister of justice and perform its functions with full independence and impartiality. The bill also contains special texts on the disclosure of financial liabilities for the categories stipulated by this law.