Mohammed Wehliye, a senior advisor at the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority, has insisted the need for state officers to provide proof of their declared net worth.

The economist and financial expert his comments follow the ongoing vetting of Cabinet Secretaries who have been disclosing their net worth.

Wehliye argue

Wehliye, who has served as a Senior Vice President and Head of Financial Risk Management, believes that merely declaring net worth is insufficient.

He argues that it creates opportunities for corruption by allowing individuals to inflate their declarations.

“Declaring your net worth shouldn’t be enough. State officers should provide proof of these assets and how they acquired them. You might be worth 50 million and be declaring 500 million, giving yourself a corruption headroom of 450 million. Also, how you acquired what you own is important,” he stated on his X account.

Wehliye also expressed concerns about the vetting process, criticizing Parliament for not enforcing the constitutional requirements of proper vetting.

He feels that the process has become a mere formality rather than a rigorous examination of the nominees’ qualifications and integrity.

Wehliye on vetting

“What Parliament is doing during this vetting exercise is merely engaging in a compliance exercise rather than enforcing the constitutional requirements of properly vetting folks who will have access to trillions of shillings of public money,” he stated.

The Parliament is currently vetting the new cabinet nominees appointed by President William Ruto.