By Salim Mutuma
All state officers have until December 31 this year to declare their wealth failure to which one risks one year imprisonment or a fine of Sh1 Million or even both.
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission has ordered all government departments receiving the declarations to analyze and verify the genuineness of the submissions and compile a comprehensive report on the belongings of their officers upon lapse of the given period.
A progress report showing the status of compliance and a list of officers who will have either submitted wrong information or incomplete declarations will be presented to the anti-graft agency for further action.
The constitution provides that all public servants declare their wealth, that of their spouses and children below 18 years after every two years with the previous one having happened in 2019.
The exercise has in the past been used to recover ill gotten property from the public officers who cannot establish the source.
Upon establishment that indeed the wealth was acquired illegally, the property is reverted to the public coffers but must provide compelling and water tight evidence.
One can however move to court and seek orders restraining the EACC from taking back their property to the public coffers.
