Dear Editor,
As our country follows the daily revelations coming out of a courtroom in New York with bated breath, appalled at the allegations levelled against the government in general and a minister in particular, the rest of the world is observing how we as a nation will respond to this crisis.
This is not the first, nor shall it be the last time that a minister of government will be accused of actions outside the law; what is important is how a government reacts when faced with such allegations.
Last month, in our sister Caricom country, Jamaica, Junior Minister of Transport and Works Joseph Hibbert, tendered his resignation after allegations of bribery were made against him in the UK courts. The facts were simple, a UK construction firm was accused of bribing government officials in Jamaica and Ghana in order to secure contacts, Hibbert’s name was linked to one such contract. Commenting on the resignation of his cabinet colleague, Daryl Vaz, the Minister of Information was quoted as saying that Hibbert did “the right and principled thing” by resigning.
The similarities (not severity) in these two cases are striking; in both circumstances the allegations were made in courts outside the country in question, both Ministers denied the allegations, however one Minister did the principled thing and resigned to allow an independent investigation into the matter.
No amount of spin on the part of the government will dissipate its lack of integrity in the eyes of the Guyanese public. This government no longer has the moral authority required to govern effectively. We are a nation in crisis.
Yours faithfully,
David Patterson