Declaration of assets, liabilities could possibly curb corruption

Mmegi Editor | Monday January 12, 2026 06:25

It’s troubling, however, that those pursued by this craft busting agency and other security organs, are seemingly individuals who are supposed to be providing exemplary leadership. The alleged culprits are also mainly ex-Cabinet members associated with the previous ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) while others are former senior public officers. This whole development creates an appetite for the enforcement of the Declaration of Assets and Liabilities Act, which was enacted into law to monitor and bring to book those who have accumulated wealth illegally. For the longest time, it seems, attention had been deliberately removed from monitoring those who by law were to declare their assets and liabilities. The establishment of the Ethics and Integrity Directorate was viewed as a right step. It was to amongst others closely monitor the interests, income, assets and liabilities of certain persons for the purposes of preventing and detecting corruption, money laundering and the acquisition of property from proceeds of any other offence, and for matters related therewith or incidental thereto.

We call upon the government of the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) to do the needful and alter the status quo. The new administration should do things differently and not be like the former BDP-led government that cared less to enforce the law on declaration of assets and liabilities.

Failure to enforce some of these enacted laws has opened an opportunity for abuse by some of the head honchos. The President; the Vice-President; the Speaker of the National Assembly; a former president; a Cabinet Minister; the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly; an Assistant Minister; a member of the National Assembly; a judge; a public officer at Deputy Director level and above; an officer of a public body at Deputy Director level and above; a member of a local authority at Deputy Director level and above; a head of a private enterprise; and others are people of interest in declaring their assets and liabilities by the law. Elsewhere in this edition we carry perplexing reports of allegations by some former Cabinet Ministers who have been allegedly feeding from the State coffers illegally and corruptly accumulating wealth that has catapulted them to live beyond their means.

Therefore, we make an ardent appeal to those who are investigating all the cases of corruption and economic crime involving some of the country’s ‘big fish’ to do a thorough job as in some cases it’s the botched investigations that set hardened criminals and potential convicts free. True to the promises by President Duma Boko, all the country’s security organs should be on their toes with all hands-on deck and prevent further cases of money laundering as people continue to play hide and seek with the law. The Boko-led government of the UDC should pursue all the culprits with vigour and put them before the law and where possible convalesce all the assets in time before they are illegally disposed. We would like to encourage all the security organs to move with speed in pursuing the perpetrators before they bury loot. The prosecuting authority, the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) should also crack the whip.