TRANSPARENCY PLEASE

ONE of the disadvantages of seeking political office is the subsequent loss of privacy, which appears to be a small price candidates are prepared to pay.

In the Zambian context, the privacy tends to relate to how much a person is worth when they file their presidential nomination papers.

Zambians have come to take this as a routine requirement that all prospective candidates must subject themselves to.

The information is not just for being a mere talking point but also something more serious, that the person seeking the high office has earned his wealth in an honest manner.

The information also tends to give credibility not only to the candidates but the electoral system itself, that there is transparency.

We do not any think any Zambian has complained about the public disclosure of a candidate’s assets and we agree with the observation by the president of the Citizens Democratic Party (CDP), Mr Robert Mwanza.

Mr Mwanza wants the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) to explain why it has kept assets declared by political leaders who filed for the August 12 election a secret when they are supposed to be accessed freely by the public for scrutiny.

Mr Mwanza said declared assets must be freely accessed so that the electorate could judge the honesty of leaders seeking public office.

He said it would also end speculation that some political leaders were under declaring their assets.

We do not agree with the explanation by the ECZ that the declared assets were “private.”

There is nothing private about an individual’s net worth when they aspire for public office.

As Mr Mwanza said, citizens must be accorded an opportunity to scrutinise the assets that were declared by all candidates.

Like Mr Mwanza, we too challenge the ECZ to explain why the declared assets were being kept a secret from the public.

“Why the secrecy? ECZ should tell us because we do not see any good reason why declared assets should be a secret. The public should be able to scrutinise what is declared,” said Mr Mwanza.

We recall that during the 2016 elections, the ECZ disclosed to the public what the two main presidential contenders - Edgar Lungu and Hakainde Hichilema - declared as to how much they were worth.

In the United States for example, it is common practice for presidential candidates to make public their net worth in terms of assets. There is nothing like privacy.

Zambians must also encourage the culture of having those seeking elective office disclose their net worth or the nation risks putting a crook into State House.

Moreover, there has been a lot of talk about the purported source of wealth of one of the candidates standing for the presidency that has been linked to suspected shady dealings during the privatisation era of the ‘90s.

And when some candidates talk openly about their intentions to auction off some of the country’s assets, the more reason why people must know their financial worth.

Zambians could find themselves putting an auctioneer in State House who has mortgaged the country to business “associates.”

What needs to be answered though: Why the secrecy over the assets of presidential contenders?

Transparency must be the catchword all the way for it builds integrity.