Malé, Maldives – Transparency Maldives (TM), which is the national chapter of the leading global movement against corruption, Transparency International, has called on to the government of Maldives to provide an explanation for the revised asset declaration of the Presidential Secretary Fathimath Mohamed Solih.
Fathimath Solih, who works at the capacity of a State Minister, in her initial asset declaration dated 9th November 2020, had declared a building worth MVR 20 million to her name, and a total of MVR 700,000 to her name in the Bank of Maldives. However, this declaration has recently been replaced by another asset declaration, also dated 9th November 2020, from which the MVR 20 million worth building has disappeared, and the money to her name has also been changed to MVR 116,384.62 at the State Bank of India, and MVR 10,185.41 at the Bank of Maldives.
While no explanation has been given as to why this change has been made, Transparency Maldives has called on to the government to explain “why the asset declaration statement was revised, specifically why the current statement shows major revisions from the one published before.”
Transparency Maldives also stressed the importance of establishing an independent verification mechanism for the asset declaration regime which has been put in place in the country.
When ‘The Times of Addu’ reached out to Transparency Maldives for a comment on the matter, and the CSO’s Governance Manager Ahid Rasheed spoke about the importance of transparency and how the lack of an independent verification mechanism does not make the current asset declaration mechanism effective.
With this, Ahid revealed that Transparency Maldives is currently concluding the draft of an asset declaration bill, and that it would be forwarded to the Attorney General’s Office in the upcoming days.
The President’s Office is yet to make a comment on the matter.
