By Samuel Abate
A draft regulation has been formulated to prevent government leaders from engaging in additional income-generating activities.
According to the Federal Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, this draft regulation aims to prohibit any government leadership from conducting business or similar activities that generate extra income.
Mesfin Belayneh, the chief executive officer of the commission’s corruption information management, stated that government leaders are among the sectors most vulnerable to corruption.
He emphasized that those who make decisions on public resources are expected to focus solely on their governmental duties and serve the people.
The executive officer mentioned that the commission has prepared a draft of the conflict of interest prevention and code of conduct for senior officials and has submitted it to the Council of Ministers.
He highlighted that the draft is intended to prevent conflicts of interest when leaders engage in additional income-generating activities, which may lead to the improper use of public and government resources.
Given the importance of this draft regulation, the executive director urged the Council of Ministers to respond swiftly.
He added that once the regulation is approved, the commission will begin investigating senior public organization managers who are involved in income-generating activities outside their official duties.
The Anti-Corruption Commission has repeatedly stated its commitment to registering the wealth and property of government officials.
It announced that the wealth and property of more than 180,000 individuals, ranging from district to federal officials, have been registered.
However, it also pointed out that although officials, including Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, have registered their wealth in the past, these registrations are not being regularly updated.
It is required that a civil servant or an official renew their wealth registration every two years. However, it has been observed that leaders are not adhering to this renewal period.
Transparency International, an international organization based in Berlin, Germany, conducts annual corruption surveys and publishes the levels and results of corruption in various countries.
According to the organization’s 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index, Ethiopia ranks 98th with a score of 37 points out of 100.
A score of 100 indicates a very clean exposure to corruption, while a lower score indicates a serious level of corruption.
