Unguja. The Zanzibar Ethics Commission for Public Leaders has received 95 cases from public servants relating to indecency, sexual harassment, corruption, and abuse of authority at work.
Other cases not related to misconduct received over five years include employment favouritism, failure to pay debts, bullying, fraud, abusive language, family neglect, delays in delivering justice, harassment, and conflict of interest.
Of these cases, 73 have been concluded, while the remaining 22 are still under investigation.
This was disclosed on Thursday, February 12, 2025, by the Minister of State in the President’s Office, Constitution, Law, Public Service and Good Governance, Mr Haroun Ali Suleiman.
He was responding to questions from representatives during a House of Representatives sitting in Chukwani, Unguja.
In a main question, the Ole Representative, Mr Seif Hamad Suleiman, CCM, sought to know the number of cases reported by citizens over the past five years and how many of those cases had been concluded.
He also asked whether the Ethics Commission for Public Leaders had prosecuted any leader for breaching public law or ethics.
“Some leaders were indeed found by the Ethics Commission to have violated ethics under the Public Leaders Ethics Act,” said Mr Suleiman.
“Over the five years (2020/21 to 2024/25), a total of 50 leaders were found to have breached ethics. The Commission’s decisions for these leaders were submitted to the relevant appointing and disciplinary authorities for action,” said Minister Haroun.
According to the Minister, those leaders were given warnings and cautions by their appointing and disciplinary authorities under Section 30(a) of the Public Leaders Ethics Act.
Minister Haroun said that, during the same period, 144 leaders submitted their forms late, of whom 46 were found to have violated public leaders’ ethics.
“Those leaders were given warnings and cautions by their appointing and disciplinary authorities under Section 30(a) of the Public Leaders Ethics Act,” he said.
The Ethics Commission for Public Leaders is an institution established under the Public Leaders Ethics Act, Number 4 of 2015, and is mandated to oversee the ethics of public leaders.
This authority includes receiving, investigating, and handling complaints, allegations, or claims regarding breaches of the Public Leaders Ethics Act, as well as hearing and making decisions on any ethics violation claims.
