Public servants ordered to cease all commercial activities under penalty of sanctions

The Ministry in charge of the civil service, under the leadership of President Ibrahim Traoré, is putting an end to a disorder that has long hindered the country’s progress. Through an official statement, Minister Bassolma Bazié has just put an end to the camouflage of commercial activities of some government employees.

In an official statement dated July 21, 2023, the Minister of the civil service reminds all state employees of the formal prohibition of engaging in commercial activities, as stipulated in Article 40 paragraph 2 of Law No. 081-2015/CNT of November 24, 2015.

«The civil servant cannot engage in commercial or lucrative activities other than the marketing of his/her literary, scientific, artistic, and non-industrial agro-pastoral productions, nor have, on his/her own behalf or through intermediaries, under any denomination whatsoever, within or outside the country, interests in a company of which he/she has or had the administration, management, or control».

Any contravention of this legal provision is considered a disciplinary offense and is liable to sanctions as specified in Article 156 of the General Statute of the civil service, as stated in the note from Minister Bassolma Bazié.

This article indicates that engaging in unauthorized commercial activities under Article 40 of the same law is considered a first-degree professional offense.

By publishing this article, the Ministry of the civil service intends to once again remind civil servants of the need to scrupulously respect the current legal provisions to «preserve the authority of the State and maintain the image of a neutral and impartial administration, dedicated exclusively to serving the public interest. »

As for Article 161 of the same law, it stipulates: «Warning and temporary exclusion from duties for up to thirty days are first-degree disciplinary sanctions. As such, they are pronounced by immediate hierarchical superiors without consulting the disciplinary board, in accordance with the provisions of Article 49 paragraph 2 of this law, and after the opinion of a trade union organization designated by the agent concerned.”

Kodjokpui Gafan