IMPLEMENTATION OF THE LEADERSHIP CODE ACT 2002 Presented By Annet K. Twine Director Leadership Code, Inspectorate of Government, KAMPALA

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1 IMPLEMENTATION OF THE LEADERSHIP CODE ACT 2002 Presented By Annet K. Twine Director Leadership Code, Inspectorate of Government, KAMPALA

2 PRESENTATION CONTENT 1.0 Legal Framework 2.0 The IG Mandate to enforce the LC Act 3.0 Salient Features of the Leadership Code Act Process of Filing Declaration 5.0 Verification of Declarations

3 THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK The Constitution of the Republic of Uganda,1995 The Inspectorate of Government Act, 2002 The Leadership Code Act, 2002 The Anti Corruption Act, 2009

4 THE IG MANDATE TO ENFORCE THE LEADERSHIP CODE OF CONDUCT Chapter 14 of the Constitution of Uganda S.8 (1) (d) of the Inspectorate of Government Act, 2002 also gives the Inspectorate of Government mandate to enforce the Leadership Code of Conduct. S.3(1) of the Leadership code Act,2002 provides that the Inspectorate shall enforce the Leadership code Act.

5 LEADERSHIP CODE ACT,2002 Historical background In 1992, the Leadership Code Statute, 1992, was enacted but was not enforced until 1995 when the mandate was given to the Inspectorate of Government. Under Article 234 of the Constitution, the IG was mandated to enforce the Leadership Code as one of its functions. The Leadership Code Act, 2002, was enacted in 2002 to operationalise the above constitutional provision and commenced on 12th July 2002.

6 LEADERSHIP CODE ACT,2002(Cont d) Leadership Code Act, Objectives This law was put in place:- To provide a minimum Standard of behavior and conduct for Leaders. To require leaders to declare their income, assets and liabilities. To put in place an effective enforcement mechanism by providing penalties for its breach.

7 LEADERSHIP CODE ACT,2002(Cont d) Who should declare? Both elected and appointed leaders holding public offices as specified under the Second Schedule of the Act. The list includes but is not limited to; the President, Ministers, Members of Parliament, Judges, IGG, National and District leaders, ALL ACCOUNTANTS in Government among others

8 LEADERSHIP CODE ACT,2002(Cont d When to declare Declaration of income, assets and liabilities is done from the time one assumes a leadership position and thereafter periodically, and before expiry of term of office as follows: A newly appointed or elected leader is required to submit his or her Declaration of assets, income and liabilities within three months after becoming a leader; and Thereafter he/she is required to submit a Declaration of income, assets and liabilities every two years during the month of March. On expiry of term of office- if his or her term of office expires six months after his/her last declaration.

9 LEADERSHIP CODE ACT,2002(Cont d What to declare A leader declares his or her income,assets and liabilities,: the names, income, assets and liabilities of his or her spouse, child and dependants. When, how, where and sources of income Child under the code means a person under 18 years of age Dependant under the code means a person whose means of support is partially or wholly from a leader. Spouse Means wife or husband

10 LEADERSHIP CODE ACT,2002(Cont d Gifts /Benefits A leader who directly or indirectly accepts any property or gift which influences or is likely to influence the leader to do a favour to any person commits a breach of the Code. A gift or donation to a leader on any public or ceremonial occasion or commission to a leader on any transaction shall be treated as a gift, donation or commission to the Government or the institution represented by the leader. It should be declared to the IGG but handed over to the accounting officer of the Government Ministry or the institution that was represented by the leader.

11 LEADERSHIP CODE ACT,2002(Cont d Gifts that a leader is not required to declare Personal gifts or donations from a relative or personal friend given on such occasion as is recognized by custom. A souvenir or ornament that does not exceed Ug.Shs.100,000/=.

12 LEADERSHIP CODE ACT,2002(Cont d Accessibility of the Declaration Contents of a leader s declaration are accessible to members of the public upon application to the Inspector General of Government in a form prescribed under this Code. This is to enable the citizens to monitor their leaders acquisitions and to assist the IG to verify the correctness and truthfulness of a leader s declaration by pointing out discrepancies in the declaration.

13 LEADERSHIP CODE ACT,2002(Cont d Standard of behaviour and conduct expected of leaders: The Code prohibits conduct:- Likely to compromise the honesty, impartiality and integrity of a leader. Likely to lead to corruption in public offices Which is detrimental to public good or welfare or good governance.

14 LEADERSHIP CODE ACT,2002(Cont d Prohibited conduct include among others; Conflict of Interest (Repealed by the Anti Corruption Act 2009) s.8 Prohibited Contracts Improper use of official position Abuse of public property Misuse of official information

15 LEADERSHIP CODE ACT,2002(Cont d Penalties for breach of the Code: The Leadership Code prescribes penalties for breach of each provision. These include: dismissal from or vacation of office; making good the loss; caution; forfeiture of undeclared assets; etc depending on the nature of the breach established

16 LEADERSHIP CODE ACT,2002(Cont d Disqualification from public office for breach of the Code A person who has been dismissed or removed from office or convicted for breach of the Code shall be disqualified from holding any other public office whether appointive or elective for a period of five years from the date of dismissal or removal.

17 LEADERSHIP CODE ACT,2002(Cont d Penalty for failure to declare: Undeclared assets or assets acquired through corruption or breach of the Code would be confiscated and forfeited to Government. Failure to submit a declaration can lead to dismissal from office for the appointed officers and vacation of offices for the elected officers.

18 LEADERSHIP CODE ACT,2002(Cont d Authorised persons: An Authorized person is a person or body authorized by Law to discipline the leader. Speaker or Deputy Speaker for MPs District Council for District Chairperson and District Speaker Sub county council for the Sub county Chairperson DSC for the CAO and Town Clerk Parliament for the IGG and Deputy IGG

19 LEADERSHIP CODE ACT,2002(Cont d Appeal against Decisions of the IGG A person aggrieved by a decision taken against him or her on the basis of findings contained in the report of the Inspector General under this Act, may appeal against the decision to the High Court. (S.33)

20 Processes of Filing declarations Currently the declarations are submitted using the Inspectorate of Government Online Declaration System(IG-ODS) From 2002 to 2015, specified leaders completed and submitted their declarations in form of hard copies/paper declarations to the IGG. The IG in 2015 completed the development of a web based data base for online submission, processing, analysis and storage of leaders declarations under the Leadership Code Act, 2002.

21 Processes of Filing declarations (Cont d) The IG-ODS is operationalised by the Electronic Transactions Act, No. 8 of 2011 and the Leadership Code (Declaration Form) Regulations, Statutory Instrument No. 31 of 2016 ( st June 2016) The Leadership Code (Declaration Form) Regulations, Statutory Instrument No. 79 of 2003 under which the manual declaration system operated was revoked.

22 Processes of Filing declarations (Cont d) Challenges (manual System)- Storage space data entry long queues towards the deadline (31 st March)

23 Processes of Filing declarations (Cont d Challenges (Online system) Laxity of some leaders to adapt to the change from submitting manual to online declarations. Low levels of information technology among some leaders Lack of accessibility to computers by some leaders Poor internet connectivity in some institutions/districts

24 Verification of declarations Once the leaders have submitted to the IG their declarations of income, assets and liabilities, the IG carries out verification of declarations submitted. This is done with a view of establishing; The correctness of the declarations. Any undeclared assets and; Whether the leader s acquired assets are within his or her known sources of income.

25 OTHER TOOLS FOR VERIFICATION Use of professional and other technical experts for example Property valuers Identification and use of proper and reliable informers

26 CHALLENGES/ CONSTRAINTS Cash economy and so many informal financial transactions Lack of proper urban planning makes it difficult to trace assets especially those undeclared/hidden assets. Unregistered assets

27 CHALLENGES/ CONSTRAINTS (cont d) Poor or no record keeping culture by the leaders Lack of a Leadership Code Tribunal and the delayed amendment of the Leadership Code Act. Lack of adequate manpower

28 Thank you for listening to me and may God Bless you.. FOR GOD AND MY COUNTRY MARCH 2017

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