TUKULA SAYS VERIFICATION OF DECLARED ASSERTS TO START ON DECEMBER 14

Director of Public Officers’ Assets Declaration (DPOAD) has disclosed that the much awaited physical verification of assets declared by public officers across the country will start on December 14, 2015.

DPOAD Director Christopher Tukula disclosed this on Thursday during media briefing in the capital Lilongwe.

“We cannot say whether the correction was done in good faith or not. We can only do that after the verification process. The investigation into that account will require a lot of diplomatic protocols because it is an offshore account.

“We can assure the public that the declaration will be subject to rigorous physical verification. It will be naive for us to say we will be verifying other accounts without verifying that one [of the President],” said Tukula.

Tukula also disclosed that over 10 000 public officers have so far declared their assets.

The Declaration of Public Officers’ Assets Act new came into effect in 2014 and mandates elected and other public officials, among them, the President, Vice-President, Cabinet ministers, members of Parliament (MPs), heads of government departments and agencies, all employees of accounting, procurement or revenue offices, including traffic police officers, to declare assets.