Finalizes new code of conduct for Higher Officials
The Federal Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission of Ethiopia (FEACE) announced that the upcoming parliamentarians and government appointees are expected to declare and register their assets upon formation of the new government.
To this end, the Commission called on incoming members of parliament and government appointees to register their assets before taking government positions.
Ethiopia will form a new government on October 4, 2021. Officials said the forthcoming government structure is expected to fundamentally address market structure issues by clarifying the mandate of institutions and strengthening regulatory capacity.
Therefore, the commission invited all politicians, advisors, technocrats, experts, and other government officials and bureaucrats in public offices and enterprises to declare their assets and sources of their capital before taking responsibility in the new government.
In a press conference held on Wednesday, Asset Declaration and Registration Director of the Commission, Mesfin Belayineh told reporters that registration of assets will play a decisive role in ensuring accountability and responsibility of public officials and bureaucrats.
With the exception of Afar and Somali regional states, over 1.5 million public servants and officials have already declared and registered their assets with the commission, Mesfin highlighted.
Of the number of civil servants that declared their assets, over 4400 public servants did not do so as per the schedule and were fined 1000 birr. The commission has thus collected over four million birr from fines.
The commission conducted an assessment on the files compiled on civil servants and officials over the truthfulness of the assets declared, and found at least 47 percent of the declarations were found to be inaccurate or false, Mesfin said.
He stated that of the 1.5 million registered government employees, the accuracy assessment was made from selected 386 registered files, while 167 government employees’ files were full of fallacies and 13 were highly inaccurate.
Mesfin also announced that the Commission has finalized a code of conduct that governs higher officials. It aims to curb corruption, maladministration, maintain the highest standards of integrity, diligence and efficiency to the best of their ability and enhance public trust in their leadership duties.
Besides, the newly drafted government officials’ code of conduct forces officials to comply with the rule of preventing conflicts of interest in public offices, Mesfin told The Reporter.
According to him, preparation of the code of conduct has been finalized and is waiting for an approval by the Council of Ministers.
