A Member of the Parliamentary Committee,
Mr Saed Kubenea, said in Dar es Salaam yesterday that there were public
servants who have been summoned to the Secretariat Ethics Tribunal for
violation of the Code of Ethics but no legal action has been taken as
the secretariat is ‘toothless’.
“The secretariat should be given a legal
mandate as PCCB (Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau) to take
those who violate the Code of Ethics to court,” said Mr Kubenea, who is
a Member of Parliament (MP) for Ubungo Constituency.
Parliamentary Committee Chairman Jackson
Rweikiza said the government should increase the budget for the
secretariat to uplift the level of efficiency while carrying out its
duties.
He added that the meagre budget
earmarked for the secretariat poses a serious challenge upon its
activities. “The government should enable the ethics secretariat to
carry out its responsibilities efficiently,” he said.
Earlier, the Ethics Commissioner, Judge
(rtd) Salome Kaganda, said the Ethics Secretariat was facing a number of
challenges. She pointed out shortage of resources as a major challenge.
She said that the exercise to verify
declaration of properties by public servants has for two consecutive
years not been carried out due to lack of resources and that the body
has not yet received any answer from the Treasury on its request for
funding to execute the exercise this fiscal year.
Ms Kaganda observed that a total of
41,758 out of 78,786 forms of declaration on properties and debt by
public servants had been submitted to the secretariat by December last
year which is equivalent to 53 per cent.
The Minister of State in the President’s
Office (Public Service Management and Good Governance), Ms Angellah
Kairuki, said the government has introduced a fiveyear plan for the
secretariat to improve its operations.
“Under the five-year plan the
verification exercise on declaration of properties and debts by public
servants has been given a top priority,” she noted.
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