Interview: Christopher Tukula, director assets declaration

The appointment of director for assets declaration brought hope that sanity will prevail after a public outcry that public officers, including the President, do not want to disclose their assets. Chris Tukula highlights his vision for the job.

Q: Who is Christopher Tukula?

A: I am a 2001 law graduate from Chancellor College. I have over 13 years’ experience as a legal and corporate governance practitioner. I first worked as a Senior Legal Aid Advocate in the Ministry of Justice before taking up a lecturing post at the University of Malawi Polytechnic. I then moved to a private practice law firm called Beal, Dalken and Associates before joining the defunct Shire Bus Lines Limited as Legal Services Manager. I have also worked as a Company Secretary for Malawi Rural Finance Company and very briefly as Head of Legal and Compliance for AHL Commodities Exchange and Malawian Airlines Limited. I pioneered the management of legal and corporate secretarial functions in some of these companies. Some months ago, I took time off regular employment to pursue further studies and I have just completed coursework for a Masters in Commercial Law at Chancellor College. Before taking up this recent appointment, I was back into private practice, managing my private legal firm, Chris and Legal.

Q: What’s the core mandate of your office?

A:

The office was established to provide the much-awaited institutional framework for the implementation of the provisions of the Constitution which require prescribed public officers to declare their assets upon assuming office as one way of promoting transparency and accountability.

Key functions of the office include receiving declarations from listed public officers; verifying the submitted declarations; Annually publicising and submitting a report of the listed public officers who have complied or not complied with the Act to Parliament; and enforcing compliance with the Act by referring non-compliance or reasonable suspicion of criminal activity to relevant employment, investigative and prosecutorial authorities. Another important function of the office is to facilitate public access of the declared information to eligible applicants.

Q: 4. What is the principal goal of asset disclosure systems?

A:

Asset disclosure systems have become the best practice benchmark and an integral component of contemporary governance regimes globally as evidenced by its inclusion in the UN Convention Against Corruption, to which Malawi is a party. The theoretical premise is that countries with effective asset disclosure systems are significantly associated with lower levels of corruption.

First and foremost, the system is a preventive tool. The scrutiny and probity that comes with an effective asset declaration system can render distinct benefits to the broader good governance drive including assisting in the prevention and detection of corrupt practices and conflicts of interest in public administration, building a climate of integrity in the public service and bolstering public confidence in the integrity of government. Last but not least it also provides a baseline for monitoring acquisition of wealth and for comparison when tracing assets that may have been corruptly acquired by public officers.

Q: Who is supposed to declare their assets…?

A:

This is for listed public officers particularly those who make decisions impacting on public resources directly or indirectly. They have been categorised into three. The first category comprises political and elected officials, including the President, Vice-President, members of Cabinet, Members of Parliament, mayors and councillors. The second category generally covers senior public officers of the grade equivalent to director and heads of department and above, including all controlling officers. For instance Judges, principal secretaries, board members, chief executive officers of public bodies, senior army officers of the rank of major and above, senior police officers of the rank of superintendent and above, district commissioners, chief executive officers of city and town councils etc. The final category targets officers in sectors that are more prone to temptation like judicial officers, procurement officers, accounting personnel, traffic police and CID officers, government lawyers and all public prosecutors, officers of the Road Traffic Department, Immigration Department, MRA, ACB and ODPP.

Q: The scope of listed officers is very wide. How will you manage this?

A:

Evidently it is a colossal and daunting task but one that mirrors the ambition of the nation in seeking to deal with mismanagement of public funds comprehensively, so we will be up to it. It will take a lot of financial and human capital. We are in the process of recruiting staff. So far, government has been supportive. We will strategise on the functions, breakdown and streamline the tasks, focus on the priorities and accomplish the deliverables gradually.

Q: You were recently arrested by the ACB for matters that are alleged to have happened last year before you came into this office. What is your comment?

A:

It is not advisable for me as a litigant in the case to comment on matters that are yet to be determined in court. Suffice to say that according to my employers, my leadership of the asset declaration process will for now not be derailed by allegations arising from my earlier professional life as a defence lawyer unless there is an adverse determination by the court.

The most important thing is that the asset declaration process is on course. The December 31st deadline still stands and I encourage all listed public officers to honestly declare their assets by that date. It is our constitutional and statutory duty to the Malawian public that we serve.