A third of new employees that joined the civil service in the year ended June 2022 failed to declare their wealth, blunting the ability of anti-corruption agencies to uncover embezzlement of public resources.
The Public Service Commission (PSC) in its annual report for the period under review says 176 State entities hired 7,567 officers but only 4,885 filed their initial financial disclosures.
This means 2,682 or 35.4 percent of new hirers breached the Public Ethics Act of 2003 which requires all public officers to file financial disclosures within 30 days of joining service.
State Corporations topped the list of entities in breach with only 3,231 of the 5,686 public servants from 137 corporations failing to declare their wealth at the time of joining.
Failure by those joining public service to make wealth declaration means agencies such Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), which gathers information on corruption occurring in the public sector, will be flying in the dark on tracking the authenticity of wealth accumulated by such employees.
“The declaration of income, assets and liabilities is an overt statement by a public official to be accountable for the management of public resources placed under their charge while in service,” says PSC.
“It is a tool which is used by agencies investigating corruption in instances where a public officer’s net worth is disproportionate to the earnings.”
The Act requires all public officers and their spouses to declare their possessions at the point of entry to the service and thereafter, every two years and upon exit from the service.
PSC data shows 6,528 officers out of the 7,503 officers who exited service filed final disclosures, leaving out about 13 percent.
Public servants who exited the service through reasons such as resignation, termination, expiry of contract, dismissal, death and retirement were 3,958 during the review period. Some 4,666 left in 2020/2021.
The compliance for biennial disclosures achieved 98.7 percent compliance as 203,768 of the 206,517 officers who were on the payroll submitted their wealth declaration forms.
However, without submitting their wealth status at the point of entering public service, the biennial and final declarations may do little in tracking incidences of unexplained accumulation of wealth.
The State Corporation Act, of 2012 empowers state corporations to employ staff directly as opposed to going through the PSC which could be lowering the oversight of the Commission.
“A state corporation may engage and employ such number of staff, including the chief executive, on such terms and conditions of service as the Minister may,” says the Act.
The PSC administrative procedures for the declaration of income, assets and liabilities, requires authorised officers to institute disciplinary action against officers who do not submit their declarations within the stipulated timelines.
PSC says it handed 46 records to the Kenya Revenue Authority, eleven to individuals, seven to EACC and five to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations during the review period.
The EACC monitors the declaration of income, assets and liabilities of the officers, which it uses to track down those involved in shadowy dealings where their declared wealth does match their salaries and other sources of income.
Those involved in business and consultancy are required to provide details of contracts for the supply of goods and services as well as their value.
Public servants who breach the wealth declaration requirement risk fines of up to Sh1 million or a year in jail.
The PSC administrative procedures for the declaration of income, assets and liabilities, require authorised officers to institute disciplinary action against officers who do not submit their declarations within the stipulated timelines.
A 2019 EACC report on wealth declaration listed refusal or ignorance and fear of victimization by investigative agencies as the top two reasons for those who fail to submit their financial records.
