THE government has been repeatedly announcing that it is in the process of reviewing the Public Leadership Code of Ethics Act of 1995 with the intention of amending it to allow for the easier identification of public leaders who seek to hide some of their assets amongst family members.

The planned amendments to the legislation, according to the government, would include the plugging of any identified loopholes to ensure public leaders declare all assets associated to them without exception, and how they got them.

Lately it has become more and more difficult to identify the real owners of various suspect properties, since there are indeed some unscrupulous public leaders who do try to hide their real assets in the names of their spouses, children, parents, or other relatives.

We are dismayed by the government’s delay in reviewing the legislation which if finalised and effected,  public leaders would henceforth be compelled to specify exactly who owns any properties linked to them. Under the amended legislation politicians would also be barred from running businesses while holding public office.

It is our hope that the government would table in parliament the final amendment proposals soon for approval before being sent to the president for assent as per procedure.

It has been well-established that a good number of public leaders, particularly senior government representatives and functionaries, have been openly violating the ethics law through registering key assets in the names of close relatives.

It must be clear that public officials are entrusted with the duty of supervising public wealth and resources. However, it is a fact that some unethical leaders have been using their positions in public office for self-gain.

Although public leaders and officials were allowed by law to engage in business activities outside their state (public) duties, it is important that they clearly account for every cent they own or make.

The government has been saying that it is not necessarily a bad thing to see that some public officials possess a lot of assets…it only becomes a problem if they cannot legally and logically account for this wealth, especially if it is sudden.

There is a need for better enforcement of the public leadership ethics code, and members of the general public should have a right to know what type of assets are owned by their public leaders so that they can continue to trust such officials in the supervision of national wealth and resources.