Civil servants rallied to declare wealth before the deadline

Ugandan public leaders and civil servants have been urged to declare their incomes and assets before the end of March.

The call was made by the 3rd Deputy Prime Minister, Rukia Nakadama, during yesterday’s launch of the Leader Support System (LSS) for the declaration of incomes, assets and liabilities in Lira district.

The move was initiated to ascertain that the liability and assets of leaders are commensurate to their known sources of income.

Under the theme “asset declaration, a tool for accountability to the citizens’ Lango sub-region was chosen as the host for this year’s launch because of its low compliance in the declaration of wealth by public servants in the country.

At the launch, Nakadama was the first to declare her resources to the government using the Inspectorate of Government Online Declaration System IG-ODS.

“Please take serious note that there is no provision in the law to extend this period. Therefore, any leader who will not have declared by 31st March 2023 will violate the law,” she said.

Nakadama says the initiative will hold leaders accountable and transparent in a bid to fight corruption in this country.

Public servants, both political and technical, are by law required to declare their assets three months after appointment to the public service and after every five years during April.

This year’s declaration period started on the 1st and will run till the 31st of March when the system will automatically close.

Earlier, Dr Patricia Achan Okiria, the Deputy IGG noted that the declaration compliance rate in Lango sub-region is very low. She warned that those who fail to declare will be caught by the long arm of the law.

“So, the next declaration for public officers will be in April 2026. But for clarity, only those leaders specified under the schedule are required to declare starting from 1st to 31st March 2023,” the IGG said.

Meanwhile, local leaders also blamed the government for the poor pay causing temptations to vote controllers.

In 2016, the IG launched the Online Declaration Systems (IG- ODS) to have an efficient and effective declaration system to support leaders register and declare their incomes, assets and liabilities as a constitutional mandate to eliminate corruption and ensure transparency and accountability.