SERNIC and traffic police members obliged to declare their assets

Maputo, 9 May (AIM) – The amended Law on Public Probity, currently before the Mozambican parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, will oblige members of the traffic police and of the National Criminal Investigation Service (SERNIC) to declare their assets to the Attorney General’s Office (PGR).

According to Justice Minister Helena Kida, who was speaking on Wednesday at the parliamentary hearing to gather input on the proposal to revise the law, the declaration of assets by police officers is a result of the vulnerability of these sectors to corruption.

“These are people who don’t have any prominent positions in their sectors. But they are on the streets every day, and we, as citizens, bribe them so that they may forget our particular offences”, she said.

The Minister said that those who are exposed to receiving money, as civil servants, also must declare their assets.

“It’s not because of the amount they receive officially or the positions they hold, but mainly because of the exposure to corruption in their activities”, Kida said.

The Minister said that the law is not aimed at persecuting officials, but there are penalties for those who break it.

“This law only says that the officials in question must declare their assets. Naturally, there may be an intention to fake this declaration, but making false statements is already a criminal offence”, she said.

Arnaldo Chalaua, the spokesperson of the parliamentary group of the main opposition party, Renamo, complained that the proposal only requires declarations of income and assets, but has no mechanisms to prevent false declarations.

“There is a need to set up a body to check what has been declared, in order to see if assets possessed by a certain person correspond to the salary earned. This would really help to protect the state”, he said.

(AIM)

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