Teachers who Flouted Wealth Declaration to Miss Salaries
The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has issued show-cause letters to many teachers who failed to declare their wealth in the past year.
TSC sent the lists of teachers who failed to declare their wealth to the Sub-County Directors of Education (SCDs) and directed that the said teachers should respond by next week or face the daunting prospect of missing out on their salaries.
“The teachers could miss out on their salaries unless they give a satisfactory reason why they did not declare their wealth,” said a TSC sub-county director on Friday.
All civil servants, teachers included are required to declare their wealth after every two years. This is in following with Section 26 and 27 of the Public Officer Ethics Act (POEA) for all Public Officers which stipulates that they are all required to declare their income, Assets and Liabilities (IALs) every two years.
Teachers did their wealth declaration in 2021 and in 2019. The next wealth declaration will be done in 2023, two years after the last wealth declaration.
In 2021 the Commission had informed teachers to declare their wealth in a circular addressed to all heads of Institutions and copied to Regional and County Directors. The deadline for declaring wealth was set by midnight of 31st December 2021. TSC then warned all teachers that any declarations made after that time would not be successful.
Teachers who would not declare their wealth were warned of serious consequences if they flouted the directive.
TSC Circular on Wealth Declaration:
ONLINE DECLARATION OF 2019 – 2021 INCOME, ASSETS & LIABILITIES (DIALs)
Section 26 & 27 of the Public Officer Ethics (POEA) requires all Public Officers to declare their Income, Assets and Liabilities (IALs) every two years. The previous declaration was done in 2019.
Consequently, all employees are expected to make their Declaration by 31st December 2021.
I. MODE OF DECLARATION
In order to enhance efficiency, the Commission introduced an online declaration portal. Each employee is expected to fill an online declaration following the steps outlined in the declaration of Income, Assets and Liabilities (DIALs) Introduction Manual.
II. ACCESSING ONLINE PORTAL
The Declaration Form can be filled and submitted by accessing the Teachers Online Portal through https://teachersonline.tsc.go.ke
Take note that one can access this information using a computer, laptop, IPAD or smartphone.
III. INSTRUCTION MANUAL
A “Do-it-yourself” instruction manual has been provided and is available on the TSC website https://teacheronline.tsc.go.ke under the Download Manual link, immediately next to the Declaration link. One can complete the Declaration process by following the prompts in the form after logging in.
IV MONITORING OF THE DECLARATION
All Heads of Institutions are required to update the TIMIS records for their respective schools by 15th September 2021 to enhance the efficiency and accountability of the DIALs process.
Heads of Institutions are also required to monitor the declaration progress in their respective institutions and report on non-compliance as reflected in Part B in the DIALs Instruction Manual by 31st December 2021.
V ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
(a) Employees who have been in employment for a period of less than two (2) years are expected to submit their Initial declarations and the system has been customized to facilitate this.
(b) All teachers employed by TSC are required to declare their Income, Assets & Liabilities. These include teachers on:
Leave of whatever nature
Interdiction
Suspension
Authorized absence of duty.
(c) Any teacher employed by the Commission who fails to submit the declaration or gives false or misleading information will be liable to a fine of Kshs. 1,000,000 or be imprisoned for a term not exceeding one year or both upon conviction.
Further, the teacher will be subjected to administrative disciplinary action as per the TSC Administrative Procedures on DIALs.
(d) The Declaration can only be accessed by individuals who have activated their official @mwalimu.tsc.go.ke email address.
This will be vital for user credibility, setting, accessing and resetting individual passwords for the Declaration as applicable.
A copy of the submitted Declaration will automatically be sent to the teacher’s email.
Ensure that:
The information filled is accurate.
You will receive a copy of the duly filed declaration in your email as confirmation of successful submission.
All sections of the declaration are filled completely. Incomplete declaration forms will be rejected by the system.
The Commission will not accept any physical (hard copy) form as a confirmation of declaration.
Teachers are encouraged to make their Declarations early to avoid last-minute rush that may lead to system congestion or downtime.
The system will be opened with effect from 1st October 2021 to midnight of 31st December 2021 to facilitate the exercise.
Note that declarations made after midnight of 31st December 2021 will not go through.