Some have suggested, rather confidently, that there is no law requiring public officers to account for their time in office.
The mistake is looking for one sentence instead of the constitutional design. Accountability is the entire architecture of the Constitution.
Here are the top ten places to find the law that requires public officers to account for their tenure in office.
1) The Constitution begins with a solemn declaration of commitment to Probity and Accountability. These are not slogans. They are the moral and legal foundation of the Republic.
2) Article 37(1) directs the State to secure a social order founded on probity and accountability. Public office is therefore stewardship, not ownership. You hold power in trust for the people.
3) Chapter 24 is literally titled “Code of Conduct for Public Officers.” Conflict of interest is prohibited (Art 284). Self-dealing is barred (Art 285). Ethics is constitutional, not optional.
4) Article 286 requires covered public officers to declare assets and liabilities before office, every four years, and at exit. This is accounting in black and white.
5) The killer clause: Article 286(4) states clearly that unexplained wealth is deemed unconstitutional. If you cannot reasonably explain it, the Constitution presumes it unlawful. Merely because we pretend not to see this clause doesn’t mean it’s not there.
6) The Auditor-General is not a clerk. Through audit, disallowance and surcharge, public officers can be and are required to be held personally liable for losses to the State.
7) CHRAJ investigates corruption and misappropriation and refers matters for prosecution. Add criminal law’s abuse of office, causing financial loss, etc. and accountability becomes penal.
8/ Elections themselves are an accountability mechanism. Power rotates. Protection expires. This is why slogans recur: Zero Tolerance for Corruption, No Matter Whose Ox Is Gored, Anas, ORAL. Post-regime accountability is built in.
9) Article 162(5) places a duty on the media to uphold government accountability. This is why scrutiny is not harassment; it is constitutional work.
10) Article 240(1)(e) requires citizen participation in local governance to ensure accountability.
So if someone asks, “Where is the law that says public officers must account?” the answer is simple: everywhere.
Public office is stewardship, not a license to loot. And sooner or later, every steward must account.