Public officers who fail to make an initial declaration of wealth will not be entered into the payroll system or get promotions, the Public Service Commission (PSC) has warned.
The commission says 10,352 out of the 13, 354 staff who were hired by State entities in the year to June 2023 did not declare their initial statements of income, assets, and liabilities as required by the law.
The PSC said only 3,002 or 22.5 percent of the new officers filed initial declarations while 10,352 or 77.5 percent did not comply.
The commission has directed accounting officers of the organisations which failed to administer initial wealth declarations for officers joining service to explain the reasons for the failure by end March, 2024.
Similarly, the PSC wants the non-compliant officers to explain reasons for the failure to file an initial declaration of assets and liabilities within 60 days.
“Evidence of filing of initial declarations be made part of entry requirements into the payroll system,” said Simon Rotich, the commission secretary.
“The declaration records be made part of the documents considered for integrity vetting for promotional appointments in the public service.”
Public officers are required by law to declare their income, assets and liabilities of themselves, their spouse or spouses, and dependent children under the age of 18 years within 30 days of joining service, every two years as scheduled and within 30 days of exiting service.
Public Officer Ethics Act, 2003
The declarations are made under the provisions of Part IV of the Public Officer Ethics Act, 2003.
The declaration is a mechanism for the promotion of ethics and integrity in the public service specifically the values and principles of good governance, transparency, and accountability.
The commission said a majority of the organisations which appointed new officers in the year to June 2023 did not administer the initial declaration of income, assets, and liabilities.
The PSC said the 2022/23 financial year was not a year scheduled for every two-year declaration and hence the only declarations of income, assets, and liabilities was about the initial and final declarations.
The latest report on the status of compliance with Values and Principles of Article 10 and 232 of the Constitution covered 523 public institutions.
The commission said a majority of the 264 organisations which appointed new officers did not administer the initial declaration of income, assets and liabilities.
The report shows that out of 264 institutions that reported, 204 organisations did not submit declaration returns to the commission.
Ministries and departments tops the list of institutions that did not undertake initial wealth declarations when hiring 5,635 new staff. This is followed by State corporations which hired 3,363 staff, public universities (607), Technical Vocational Training Institutes (580) and statutory commissions and authorities (167).
“The declarations are overt statements by a public officer of their willingness to be accountable for the management of public resources placed under their charge while in service and a tool for management of conflict of interest as envisaged under the Leadership and Integrity Act, 2012,” Mr Rotich said.
On the final declarations for officers who exited the public service in the year under review, the report shows that 6, 567 officers filed final declarations while 3,581 failed.
The biggest offenders were State corporations where 1,916 staff exited without filing final wealth declaration forms, Ministries and departments (971), public universities (498), TVETs (140), constitutional commissions and independent offices (43) and statutory commissions and authorities (13).
The commission wants the pensions department to require certified copies of the final declarations from responsible institutions before clearance of pension.
“The list of officers who excited service and did not comply with the requirement to file final declarations be shared with the office of the Director of Public Prosecution, Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission and all Service Commissions as part of disclosure on non-compliance with the integrity requirements in the public service and to be used for integrity vetting on suitability to be re-appointed to the service,” the commission recommended.
The PSC said it released 21 declaration records to investigative agencies to aid investigations on illicit enrichment and unexplained wealth of some public officers under investigation.
