WINDHOEK – In a bid to set precedence for transparency, President Hage Geingob yesterday revealed plans to disclose his personal assets next month.
The President, who delivered his maiden State of the Nation Address, expects all lawmakers and senior public servants to follow suit, as the new administration edges closer to making transparency the cornerstone of its daily operations.
For too long now, lawmakers have disregarded the obligation to declare their assets as is required by law. The last time assets were declared in the National Assembly was in 2009.
The National Assembly secretariat has often been blamed for not taking a firm stand on the issue of asset declaration. Geingob yesterday said: “I have engaged PricewaterhouseCoopers Tax and Advisory Services (PwC) to assist me with an independent assessment of my assets.”
“PwC will also assist me to prepare a financial disclosure report, which I will disclose to the public in the second week of May 2015.”
The PwC assessment is expected to include the President’s farm near Tsumeb, as well as providing clarity on the status of a consultancy the President owned before he became trade minister in 2008, among others.
It is expected that the declaration of assets by politicians and senior government officials will help arrest the escalation of conflict of interest situations in the country.
It would also help government in the fight against corruption, favouritism and nepotism.
Ministers are supposed to declare their riches to both the National Assembly and the presidency, but over the years they have only declared to the presidency. Although not required to do so by law, First Lady Monica Geingos – a businessperson of note – will also declare her assets and interests, the President said.
Geingos is believed to be one of the wealthiest women in the country, having built a business empire in the media and financial equity sectors over the years. In addition to declaring his interests, the President also said he would release his medical health reports for public scrutiny. “These disclosures will be made in line with the belief that transparency starts at the top,” Geingob told the nation. “I am deeply convinced that accountability, transparency and inclusive leadership are ‘conditio sine qua non’ for sustained socio-economic development and the improvement of the lives of all our people.” He said the decision to declare his assets was a matter of political will, seeing that the law does not require the President to disclose his personal assets.
Geingob urged National Assembly Speaker Professor Peter Katjavivi to ensure the timely and adequate disclosure of assets by parliamentarians and vowed that the Prime Minister will ensure that civil servants equally disclose all outside interests and sources of income.
Since taking office just over a month ago, Geingob has on several occasions urged lawmakers to declare their assets and interests for the sake of accountability.
The President earlier this month expressed disappointment over a number of long-serving lawmakers, who still do not own houses, calling them a waste.
“Some of you are still poor but we started together in 1990. If you have been a minister since independence you must have assets, if not then you are a waste. Some of you do not even own a house or a car, you want to remain revolutionaries forever,” said Geingob at the time. With government continuously implementing measures to curb corruption in the country, Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Director General Paulus Noa last year said the absence of an asset declaration register for lawmakers negatively affects the operations of the ACC
Noa is worried when it comes to his institution having to investigate a member of parliament, saying: “When a need arises to investigate an MP, it becomes difficult if there are no records of their assets. Therefore, if there is a law compelling them to register and they do not declare their assets, it will be easy to conduct investigations when the need arises.”
Minister of Safety and Security (Rtd) Major-General Charles Namoloh soon after yesterday’s joint sitting said “we never had a problem to declare”.
“The declaration forms were being amended and were not ready so we cannot be blamed. It is not our job to prepare the forms but parliament so we cannot be blamed,” said Namoloh. Namoloh also accused the public of misusing and abusing the declarations submitted by lawmakers. “Those things hurt us because some people use the information to say this minister has nothing while the other has so much.”
Republican Party MP Clara Gowases also said she stands ready to disclose her assets and interests.
“There is nothing to hide, I am ready to declare,” she said.