Financial Statements of Gov’t Officials Will Be Released Soon, Says Spokesperson

The President’s Office has announced plans to disclose the financial statements of cabinet ministers and political appointees soon.

During a press conference held yesterday, Heena Waleed, the Chief Spokesperson for the President, stated that the pertinent information would be disclosed and made available to the public as soon as possible.

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Reporters present at the briefing raised inquiries regarding the government’s protocol concerning the release of financial statements, as well as the status of updating details regarding political appointments on the President’s Office website.

Addressing concerns about the website’s lack of updates, Heena attributed the issue to a “technical error,” which officials had previously communicated to the media. She assured the media that the matter would be promptly rectified, and the relevant information would be disclosed in due course.

The constitution requires the president, ministers and lawmakers to annually submit to the Auditor General “a statement of all property and monies owned by him, business interests and all assets and liabilities.”

However, the disclosure of this information to the public under the administration of former president Ibrahim Mohamed Solih was unprecedented. It followed years of campaigning by right-to-information advocates calling on public officials to declare and publicly disclose assets.

Speaking at the press conference yesterday, Heena reiterated that the current administration has not made any changes to the policy of disclosing information to the public and media.

Heena’s comments come amid a recent surge in complaints received by the information commission regarding denials of Right to Information requests by government institutions.