Omar Kezimbira <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Regional -EastAfrican - Nairobi - Kenya
Monday, November 3, 2003
Will Wealth Declarations Curb Graft in East Africa?
Information contained in the forms is confidential and can only be made available to anti-graft bodies and the police By BARBARA AMONG
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENTWEALTH declaration laws in the three East African countries are not punitive enough to dissuade corrupt public officials from amassing riches, critics in Uganda and Kenya, where the exercises were recently conducted, say.
The declaration of wealth by Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni and his Cabinet ministers has kicked off a debate in Kampala, with the opposition saying the whole exercise of wealth declaration was fraudulent and that most of the ministers' declarations were not genuine.
In Kenya, the excercise was concluded on October 2, four months after the initial June 30 deadline, with President Mwai Kibaki and Vice President Moody Awori leading the Cabinet and Members of Parliament in declaring what they own.
The exercise was a major credibility test for the Kibaki administration, which has been under donor scrutiny since coming to power in January. The declaration of wealth in Kenya became mandatory after the enactment of the Public Officer Ethics Act early this year. The exercise will be an annual stocktaking ritual in Kenya.
In Tanzania, sources said that the Leadership Ethics Secretariat requires the president, upon taking the oath of office, to declare his wealth. The exercise is repeated after five years.
Like Tanzania and Uganda, critics of Kenya's Public Officer Ethics Act say the law does not commit public servants to account for how they acquired their riches.
Critics of the Museveni government said the exercise was sheer window-dressing.
"It is a total lie that these people accumulated their wealth through selling milk and cows as most of the ministers, including the president, claimed," said Reagan Okumu, a member of Uganda's opposition Reform Agenda and an outspoken Member of Parliament.
Mr Okumu says that if it were true that ministers were becoming wealthy from selling milk, the people of Karamoja in eastern Uganda and other cattle-keeping communities in western Uganda would be the richest in the country.
He said that, even with under-declarations, the declarations show that there is a big problem of corruption and abuse of power within the economy.
In all three countries, information contained in the forms is confidential and can only be made available to anti-graft bodies and the police.
However, Uganda's Inspector General of Government (IGG), Jotham Tumwesigye, said that people were free to go to his office to cross-check with the declarations and raise complaints where they find them inadequate.
He said some people had already started going to his office to cross-check the declarations.
Most Ugandan ministers, whose wealth shocked the public, said they were saving money from the sale of their farm produce. More than 35 per cent of the population in Uganda lives on less than $1 a day.
According to the forms, ministers with dairy farms include Brigadier Jim Muhwezi, Gerald Sendawula, John Nasasira, Col Kahinda Otafiire, Syda Bbumba, Muganwa Kajura and Dr Ruhakana Rugunda. President Museveni also declared his farms.
Dr James Rwanyarare of the Uganda People's Congress (UPC) termed the exercise "window-dressing."
In the declaration forms, President Museveni said he did not have any foreign account. Some ministers said they had foreign accounts, mostly in the UK.
President Museveni's property declared to the IGG included an annual income of Ush48 million ($24,000), cash in bank of not more than Ush5 million, ($2,500), developed land valued at Ush240 million ($120,000), residential houses at Rwakitura valued at Ush600 million ($300,000) and another piece of land at Nyabushozi valued at Ush70 million ($35,000). Museveni says he has no property outside the country.
Dr Rwanyarare says that the only person among the ministers who seemed to be honest with his declarations was Brig Muhwezi, the Minister of Health.
The minister had the longest list of property, with several buildings and farms. He earns about Ush235 million ($127,000) annually from his salary and allowances, from his farms and from shares in different companies.
Elias Lukwago of the Democratic Party (DP) and a strong critic of the Movement government, said most of the leaders had declared part of their wealth just to fulfil the law, but not in the spirit of the law.
Opposition politicians say that they believe that the biggest problems in Uganda are poor governance, corruption and lack of transparency.
Additional reporting by Gertrude Kamuze in Kampala and Juma Kwayera in Nairobi
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