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Wednesday, October 1, 2003 - Web posted at 8:20:08 GMT Ministers delay assets move TANGENI AMUPADHICABINET Ministers have held up the implementation of an assets register for the National Assembly by refusing to complete disclosure forms. |
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The Ministers and their deputies refused to hand over the forms before the end of April because President Sam Nujoma already required that they submit such details to him, sources told The Namibian. But Government's chief spokesman, Minister of Information and Broadcasting Nangolo Mbumba, yesterday said it was "not a question of refusal" but rather clarity. The Namibian Constitution states that members of the National Assembly must disclose their financial and business interests. The public are supposed to have access to the register as a means of checking on whether MPs are using their positions to advance their personal interests. Prime Minister Theo-Ben Gurirab reportedly wrote to the Speaker of the National Assembly, Dr Mose Tjitendero, saying that Ministers were reluctant to complete the forms because they felt they were being required to disclose their assets and interests twice. Asked whether he had written such a letter, Gurirab said yesterday: "Why must I tell you what I wrote to the Speaker? Are you the Speaker?" Mbumba said Gurirab and Tjitendero had met to "iron out" why the Ministers had to submit the disclosure forms to the Secretary of the Assembly and not to the Speaker. In the end it was made clear that Ministers were MPs first before they were part of the executive. "That has been cleared [and] all Ministers are clear what they have to do, and we have to live up to our responsibilities...," said Mumba. No one at the Assembly could shed light on the apparent refusal of the executive arm of Government to submit their details to Parliament. Deputy Speaker Willem Konjore referred all queries to the Secretary, Moses Ndjarakana, who has gone to Europe with Tjitendero to attend the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Geneva, Switzerland. The Namibian understands that Ministers have been told there is no way out of the constitutional requirement and must complete the forms. It is not clear whether all Ministers refused to disclose their financial assets and interests. The declarations of interests made to Nujoma have never been made public. It is not known what format the declaration takes or how up to date the information is. Mbumba said it was only "a matter of time" before everybody had completed the forms for Parliament. According to the MPs' code of conduct, an assets register was supposed to become operational two months after forms were submitted at the end of April. But many MPs failed to comply with the April deadline. They were then told to submit their details by the end of August. Sources at the National Assembly say backbenchers have complied with the August deadline but Cabinet members have now stalled the process. Asked about the refusal of Ministers to submit forms like other ordinary members of parliament, Gurirab would only say: "It's a constitutional requirement. It's a law and everybody must do it and they are going to do it". Four years ago, an excited Tjitendero disclosed that a code of conduct providing for MPs to publicise their interests would finally be set up. Years later this has still not come to fruition. Initially MPs said the forms were too complicated. When the forms were changed they still continued to hold up the process. The South African parliament, which has a similar assets register, has in the past year fined MPs for failing to bare all. At least one MP, Tony Yengeni of the ruling African National Congress (ANC), was convicted of fraud after omitting to tell parliament he received a hefty discount when buying a luxury car. |
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