The government explained in Parliament yesterday (08) that the revision of the public probity law is not intended to persecute anyone, but rather to prevent acts of corruption, namely by extending the obligation to declare assets.

For this reason, the Minister of Justice, Constitutional and Religious Affairs, Helena Kida, believes that agents of the Mozambican Transit Police (PT) and the National Criminal Investigation Service (SERNIC) will be able to declare their assets due to the vulnerability of these sectors to corruption.

Speaking at a parliamentary hearing held by the committees on Constitutional Affairs, Human Rights and Legality; Parliamentary Ethics; and Public Administration and Local Power, to gather input on the proposal to revise Law 16/2012 of August 14, the Public Probity Law, Kida stressed that "this law is not intended to persecute people". "So if I know that the assets I have were acquired lawfully, then I have no problem declaring them," he explained.

"It will be said that these are people who have no prominent position in their sectors. But they are on the streets every day, where we ourselves [citizens] entice them to forget about penalizing them for a certain infraction by paying up," added Helena Kida, stressing that "those who have the propensity to receive money, as state employees or agents, must also declare their assets."

"It's not because of the amount they are officially paid or the positions they hold, but mainly because of the exposure to corruption in their activities," concluded Helena Kida.