Officials Should Explain Their Millions

Namibia’s new Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) director general Bryan Eiseb has made an encouraging start to his tenure by singling out unexplained wealth as a key pillar in fighting corruption.

Addressing an event in Windhoek last week, Eiseb said “the significance of unexplained wealth is that it shifts attention from the corrupt act alone to the benefits derived from corruption”. He added:

“After all, if corrupt individuals cannot safely enjoy the proceeds of their crimes, the incentive to engage in corruption is significantly reduced”.

For years, the Namibian government has tip-toed around the issue of lifestyle audits. Yet, corruption scandals continue to prove that lifestyle audits could have detected the abuse of public resources earlier.

Eiseb, who took over from Paulus Noa, is now pushing for lifestyle audits, asset tracking, and unexplained wealth orders to target public officials with illegal riches.