by Kenfrey Kiberenge

More than 600,000 public servants are expected to declare their wealth next month, even as questions abound on the effectiveness of the exercise.

The exercise, which started in 2003, was touted as the perfect mechanism to help curb corruption in the public sector.

Seven years later, there is little to show for it with observers dismissing it as a public relations gimmick.

In addition, audits conducted by the Government have established that in most cases, MPs and judges have not declared their wealth. Only one arm of the Government, the Executive, takes it seriously.

This is despite the proposed Sh1 million fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year for defaulters.

Some argue wealth declaration should only centre on certain public offices where embezzlement of public funds is rife. Photo: File/Standard

Justice PS Amina Mohamed, in an advert this week reminding all public officials to declare their wealth, says the Public Officer Ethics Act has enhanced integrity, transparency and accountability in public service.

"An effective income and asset declaration regime can help prevent abuse of power, reduce corruption and increase public accountability, trust in institutions and Government legitimacy," says Mohamed.

But experts say the exercise is useless and a waste of time and public resources.

University of Nairobi Economics lecturer Samuel Misati views wealth declaration as a public gimmick since most officials do not fill in the forms honestly.

"Most will declare the wealth for which they have filed returns at the Kenya Revenue Authority, which is just a fraction of their value. This is a useless exercise which we must shy away from," argues Dr Misati.

In May, a report by the Efficiency Monitoring Unit, under the Office of the Prime Minister, revealed almost 25 per cent of public servants do not file their wealth declaration forms — the worst offenders being MPs and judges.

Mohamed concurs, saying levels of compliance with the enforcement of the Public Officer Ethics Act, especially on financial declarations, has declined. "We would like to reiterate that the provisions of this Act on this matter are mandatory and have to be complied with. Thus, the sixth round of wealth declarations is expected to provide a good opportunity for public officers to realise the value of the exercise and thereby augment the Government’s efforts in the fight against corruption," she adds.

Transparency International-Kenya Executive Director Job Ogonda says the exercise is not being executed as intended.

"It is wrong to make it mandatory for all because there are more than 600,000 public servants. These are too many to handle," says Ogonda.

He argues, for instance, the US has a population of more than 300 million people yet only 200,000 people declare their wealth.

This contrasts sharply with Kenya, which has a population of 38 million and 600,000 people are required to declare their wealth. "This is the largest in the whole of Africa and the Public Service Commission does not have the required capacity to scrutinise the forms," he says.

He points out 60 per cent of corruption happens in procurement thus the exercise should mainly centre on officials involved in the process.

"But when you, for instance, ask a primary school teacher to declare wealth, it is simply not worth the effort," he says.

National Taxpayers Association National Coordinator Michael Otieno also dismisses the exercise as a PR gimmick, saying it is pointless to ask public officials to declare their wealth and keep it secret.

The Act says the content of a declaration remains confidential: "A person who, without lawful excuse, divulges information acquired in the course of acting under this Act is guilty of an offence and is liable, on conviction, to a fine not exceeding Sh5 million or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years or to both."

However, one can obtain it by applying to the responsible commission but applicants have to satisfy the commission they have a legitimate interest and good cause.

When the idea was mooted in 2003, Kenyans had hoped they would know how much their leaders, particularly the President, Vice President, Cabinet ministers and MPs were worth. That was never to be.

"Wealth declaration should be made public because as the public we should know how much you are worth when you enter public service and how much you are worth when you leave," opines Otieno.