Kazakhstan will introduce control over the compliance of expenses and incomes of civil servants and persons equivalent to them, as well as their spouses. In the event of a discrepancy, various penalties and administrative sanctions will be applied to officials. The corresponding amendments to the anti-corruption laws were approved by the deputies of Kazakhstan.
As the head of the Anti-Corruption Agency Marat Akhmetzhanov noted at a parliamentary meeting, sanctions would be applied only for significant discrepancies.
“So, if the amount of the discrepancy between expenses and income exceeds a thousand times the minimum calculated indicator (the MCI in Kazakhstan is $7), an administrative fine of 90% of the amount of the discrepancy will be imposed on a civil servant. If the sum of the discrepancy between expenses and income exceeds the annual income of a civil servant, then he/she is subject to dismissal from the civil service for negative reasons,” Akhmetzhanov explained during the discussion of the bill in Parliament.
However, he explains that officials will be given the opportunity to justify the discrepancy between income and expenses before applying penalties. It should also be emphasized that these changes will not come into force until 2027 – by the time, as the authorities of Kazakhstan promise, the country will have a universal declaration system.
“As you know, the deadline for filing a declaration is divided into stages. At the first stage, civil servants showed their income last year. Now the comparison of income and expenses begins. At the second stage (2023-2024), employees of state institutions and the quasi-sector will join it. At the third stage (2024-2025), heads and founders of legal entities will do it. In 2025-2026 (the last stage), the declaration will be submitted by all other citizens. And only then it will become known about the assets and property of the entire population,” the head of the Anti-Corruption Department explained.
Another change, that was proposed for consideration by the deputies, is the introduction of a protection system for persons who reported the facts of corruption. In particular, amendments were adopted, according to which persons who have assisted in combating corruption cannot be disciplined or dismissed from their positions or transferred to another position without the recommendations of the conciliation commission. And for the disclosure of information about the person who reported corruption, it’s proposed to introduce criminal liability, as for the dissemination of confidential information.
At the same time, a person who decides to report facts of corruption to the authorized body will not be held liable if the information provided by him/her is not confirmed, since the state guarantees him/her protection.
“Today the problem is that people don’t want to report. Unfortunately, since the Soviet era, these people have, it must be said, a negative attitude. They feel like a black sheep in a team. They need not only physical, but also moral support. Therefore, today such, perhaps, non-standard methods are needed to really protect and help them. Unfortunately, the labor rights of such persons are not protected. The conciliation commission will not protect them if there are grounds for liability on other grounds,” Akhmetzhanov explained.
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