At a meeting on countering corruption and strengthening the transparency of government bodies, Adiz Boboev, acting governor of Samarkand province, called on officials to lead by example, the provincial governor’s office said.

The event was attended by district and city mayors, officers of law enforcement bodies, and officials of education, healthcare, and other departments.

Adiz Boboev called corruption "a vice that undermines public trust in government" and emphasized that the fight against it must begin with the leaders themselves.

"When will we put an end to this corruption? With salaries now raised, them being paid well for their work, the officials keep doing it, they keep saying: 'That one took a bribe, my boss takes it. Why shouldn't I?' Then a second person joins in, then a third, then a fourth. And then it spreads throughout the provinces, down to the districts and neighbourhoods—until it reaches the very bottom, and it will continue. "Because if it starts at the top, it will go down. Everything depends on you," he said.

The head of the province noted that every leader must lead by example.

"If you work properly, then your subordinates will look at you and say, 'Don't rush, those at the top are working honestly, so I need to work properly too.' Then they will act correctly, and those below them will act correctly too. Otherwise, there will be no end. The people see everything. Do you think people don't know? The people know everything, they see everything. They see how someone built their house, who bought what kind of car. Do you think people don't notice? Everyone knows. Everyone must draw their own conclusions—first for themselves, and then set an example for others," Adiz Boboev added.

Following the meeting, the leaders were instructed to strengthen preventative work in work collectives and mahallas, as well as implement measures to develop a culture of honest labor, the governor’s office noted.

At a meeting on March 5, the president stated that the fight against corruption must begin with eradicating its roots—excessive luxury and ostentatious wealth.

In July, president Mirziyoyev gave a directive to the Prosecutor General to draft a proposal on a system in which the performance of government bodies would be assessed not only by reducing the number of corruption cases but also by the number of prevented violations.

7,354 individuals were prosecuted in 2024 for corruption offenses in Uzbekistan—a 12.5% ​​increase from the previous year. The damage from corruption doubled to 2.8 trillion soums. Andijan Province led the way in terms of the number of convictions and damage. The largest number of convictions occurred in the education and healthcare sectors.

Income and property declaration by civil servants

A system for income and property declaration by civil servants and their spouses has been underway in Uzbekistan since 2017. Initially, it envisaged that civil servants would be required to declare property, income and expenses, as well as those of their parents, spouses, and children. The latest version of the bill only includes the income declaration, which applies only to spouses and minor children.

A presidential decree was supposed to implement the income declaration system starting January 1, 2022, but this did not happen. The bill was submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers on November 13, 2021. However, the government never submitted the document to the Legislative Chamber, as previously noted by the Anti-Corruption Agency.

The bill proposes introducing income and asset declarations for civil servants in two phases:

Phase 1 – the president, members of the Legislative Chamber and the Senate, members of the government, state and economic management bodies, heads of local governments and their MPs;

Phase 2 – other civil servants (except for support, technical, and service personnel). In 2024, the chief of the agency, Akmal Burkhanov said that the income declaration bill was virtually ready—it had been approved by ministries and bodies and reviewed by the Ministry of Justice.

Deadlines were pushed back despite the president's directives to expedite the bill’s passing. Most recently, in early March, Shavkat Mirziyoyev gave directives to relevant bodies to publish the bill for public input as soon as possible and submit it for review by April 1.

Editorial Board:

Why don't our leaders act more consistently and why are they so hypocritical?

Absolute majority of those who reach top roles will already be corrupt and evil, and in that position they can do more damage to everyone else. When we desire material gain at the expense of true value, we cheat ourselves, not to mention most of our leaders. The obsessive drive for material gain at the expense of our very own people and fulfillment is an empty pursuit, lacking in meaning, and it will not satisfy in the end.

Most of those who pretend to be good leaders are all corrupt. We have to except that corruption have infiltrated nearly every levels of our political and administrative institutions and the society as whole. The protection of perpetrators, and suppression of evidence and information, and seeping corrupt practices and activities under the carpet serves as to deterrence and is utterly a disservice to the nation.