Amendment of Declaration Act delays progress
The amendment of the Declaration of Assets and Liabilities Act has delayed the declaration process due to the addition of a new cohort of people expected to declare. This was revealed by Assistant Minister of Presidential Affairs, Governance and Public Administration, Dumezweni Mthimkhulu.
He said the Ethics and Integrity Directorate commenced operations on the 6th January 2020 with an establishment of only two posts. He stated that recruitment of suitably qualified officers is still ongoing and capacity building of the Directorate continues in collaboration with relevant stakeholders.
Mthimkhulu explained that the Directorate received the first declaration form on the 3rd of February 2020. To date, he said the Directorate has received 2,889 declaration forms, of which 1,099 have been issued with acknowledgement slips, as having met the requirement of the Declaration of Assets and Liabilities Act.
According to the minister, 146 forms have been returned to the various declarants for correction, while 644 await processing. “The estimated number of persons who ought to declare is 4 000, based on the list of names received by the Directorate from the Ministries, Departments and Agencies ( MDAs).
More lists continue to arrive as the ministries better understand the categories of persons who ought to declare. To date, 1 099 declarants have been issued with acknowledgement slips as proof that they have declared. Out of these 1 091 are Batswana. To increase declarants’ level of compliance with the requirements of the Act, the Directorate continues to engage declarants and other stakeholders such as Government departments, councils and parastatals through written correspondence and physical and virtual meetings,” Mthimkhulu told Parliament.
He indicated that the number of such meetings is expected to increase since 31st December 2022 is the deadline for submitting second declarations for most declarants. The minister stated that the obligation to make a declaration does not apply to people who do not work for Government even when their assets and liabilities are comparable to Government officials and officers who declare theirs.
“However, Section 7 requires a declarant to declare, amongst other things, the interest, income, assets and liabilities of any company or business undertaking in which a declarant or the declarant’s spouse, son, daughter, sibling or parent is a beneficial owner. By so doing, the declarant declares the interest, income, assets and liabilities of the declarant’s immediate family members and business partners who may be private citizens as distinguished from the public officials and officers listed in Section 3 and 6 of the Act,” he said.
Mthimkhulu was responding to a question from MP for Gaborone North Mpho Balopi who had asked Minister for Presidential Affairs, Governance and Public Administration to brief Parliament on the performance of the Ethics and Integrity Directorate and to give an update on the declarations of assets and liabilities made to date, among other things.
Mthimkhulu said of the estimated 4 000, only 2 800 declared instead and this is due to the fact that the Act has been amended more than once to cater for other people. He said some ministries learnt late of the new developments and are still undertaking the process of compiling names of those who should be included in the list. He said those who are being included in the list also have to be notified and be briefed on what is expected of them.