OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC OFFICERS' DECLARATIONS

As part of the ongoing orientation of Members of Parliament-Elect in Lilongwe by the National Assembly, the Office of the Director of Public Officers’ Declarations (ODPOD) opened the Wednesday October 22 session explaining to the members their constitutional mandate to declare their Assets, Liabilities and Business Interests. Members of Parliament fall under what is called “Political and Elected Officials” category of Listed Public Officers (LPOs) as provided under section 5 as read with section 14 of the Public Officers (Declaration of Assets, Liabilities and Business Interests) Act. They are required to declare their assets, liabilities and business interests, and submit the information to the Director of Public Officers’ Declarations no later than three months after taking Oath of Office. ODPOD Director Micheal Chiusiwa among the many important reasons of declaring, pointed out to the members that it promotes integrity, transparency and accountability, at the same time protects them from undue suspicion, baseless or unfounded allegations of wrong doing in their discharge of official duties. After the session, Mr Chiusiwa also took time to explain to some members one on one on the importance of declaring their assets. The Mps- elect are to be sworn in at the Parliament Building in Lilongwe on Monday, 27th October and Tuesday, 28th October, 2025.

The Office of the Director of Public Officers Declarations conducted its first ever declarations orientation workshop for media practitioners on 2nd June, 2022 at Sunbird Ku Chawe in Zomba. The ODPOD noted that media plays an integral part in shaping and creating public opinion. ODPOD therefore observed that a well- informed media can also inform the society on declarations issues correctly and positively. The ODPOD conducted a one-day media practitioners declarations orientation workshop which was funded by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). A total of forty-four (45) people attended the workshop. Participants span from radio, television, print and online media institutions.