Africa-Press – Botswana. The Ethics and Integrity Directorate is at an advanced stage of developing a registrar, which will be available for a prescribed fee.
The registrar shall contain a list of persons who have submitted their declarations and a list of persons who failed to submit their declarations, says Minister for State President, Mr Moeti Mohwasa.
Presenting budget proposals for the directorate yesterday, Mr Mohwasa said the office was actively enhancing its capacity through collaboration with other government agencies that aligned with its mission including the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC), the Financial Intelligence Agency (FIA), Botswana Unified Revenue Services (BURS) and the Companies and Intellectual Property Agency (CIPA). He said the directorate was established to promote and reinforce integrity and accountability in public office.
“It does this by monitoring the interests, income, assets and liabilities of certain categories of persons for the purpose of preventing and detecting corruption, money laundering and acquisition of property from proceeds of crime,” he said.
Mr Mohwasa said the directorate was also mandated to collaborate with other entities, including oversight institutions in the development and promotion of standards and best practices to promote good ethical conduct.
He said the Declaration of Assets and Liabilities Act was enacted with purpose, spirit and intent to create an autonomous oversight institution that would execute its mandate without any interference and hindrance.
Mr Mohwasa said the Act would be in full effect if the Director General of the directorate reported directly to Parliament than the current situation where the directorate report to Minister for State President. He said shortage of personnel hampered the directorate’s ability to effectively fulfill its mandate and achieve its objectives.
Minister Mohwasa added that the directorate was considering inclusion of other categories of persons who have been left out in the list of persons required to declare such as Procurement Officers.
He said the directorate requested a total of P 25 375 960 of which P23 975 960 was for the recurrent budget and P 1 400 000 for development budget to be approved and stand as part of the estimates for the financial year 2025/2026.
Commenting on the proposed budget, the Leader of Opposition (LOO) and Maun North MP Mr Dumelang Saleshando said it was important for the directorate to be adequately financed and staffed in order to fully carryout its mandate.
Mr Saleshando appealed to politicians to be cautious and beware of the likelihood of being lured into undertaking corrupt practices by some business people who will present themselves as potential partners and financial sponsors.
He said delay or failure to release political party funding was likely to result in some parties becoming victims of corruption masterminds as they were in dire need of funding and potential corruptors were closing in on the new government. He said some politicians and other leaders were likely to engage in corrupt practices for personal enrichment.
Mr Saleshando was happy that the Ethics and Integrity Directorate would operate as an independent office, reporting directly to Parliament, adding that the appointment of its Director General must also be of public knowledge.
He also said declared assets must be accessible to public and be open to be investigated by those with interest and likely to identify with such assets if they were acquired through corrupt practices.
“The public must know what assets were in our possession before assuming office and what has been acquired by the time we get out of office,” he said.
Mr Saleshando also added that anyone, who upon investigations was found to have not been truthful in declaring their assets, must face dire consequences.
MP Letlhogonolo Barongwang of Mogoditshane East advocated for enhancing ethical conduct for a corruption free government. Mr Barongwang said empowering the directorate to effectively do its job would enhance ethical conduct.
He said the office must be adequately staffed and added that public education must be emphasised for the community to understand the directorate mandate. The MP said corruption was a complex undertaking, therefore must be timely intercepted before developing a foundation.
Brigadier Domcaza Mokgwathi, who is Letlhakeng MP, said whoever was engaged to work for the directorate must have integrity and ethical conduct. He said a politician must before assuming public office, undertake self-introspection on whether he or she was fit to take up a demanding national assignment. The MP said whoever served in a public office and eligible to declare assets must also have their family members put under scrutiny.
Tswapong South MP, Dr Kesitegile Gobotswang said each government department must have a code of conduct to instill ethical conduct and integrity. Dr Gobotswang said the public has been raising an alarm that certain leaders were allegedly accumulating wealth over night.
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