Transparency International (TI) has said the composition of the Transparency Institute of Guyana Inc. (TIGI) does not breach its guidelines on non-partisanship, in response to concerns about its membership raised by the government.
Responding to a recent letter by acting Foreign Affairs Minister Manzoor Nadir, Managing Director of TI Cobus de Swardt said TIGI is currently not an affiliated chapter of TI. de Swardt noted that as has been publicly stated, dialogue is ongoing between TI and the local body about the process for accreditation.
TIGI was incorporated under the Companies Act late last year. The body’s aim is to promote transparency and eradicate corruption locally. The body’s founding directors are Bernard Crawford, David James, Fr Compton Meerabux, Keith Park, Gino Persaud, Nadia Sagar and Enrico Woolford. Christopher Ram is the organisation’s legal consultant.
Last month, Nadir wrote to de Swardt on what he described as the known and public biases” of members of the Guyana Chapter of TI. Among those identified were Ram, Woolford, Parks and Persaud. Nadir’s complaint came after TIGI questioned government’s single-sourcing of procurement to Chinese company Huawei, which subsequently made a US$50,000 donation.
In his response, dated April 15, de Swardt said, “I note your concerns about specific individuals at TIGI. As detailed in our guidelines, with respect to nonpartisanship TI emphasises the importance of maintaining an overall balance of political perspectives.” He further said, “While we realise that it is not feasible for all chapter members to have a past free of political affiliation, we do insist that a chapter’s executive director and chair of the board are not leading officials of government or a political party. The information at my disposal does not suggest a transgression of this principle by TIGI.”
de Swardt’s response was provided by Nadir upon a request by this newspaper.
Nadir told Stabroek News that based on media reports the impression had been conveyed that TIGI was affiliated with TI. He suggested that there was some amount of dishonesty by the individuals involved. When TIGI announced its formation in November, last year, it said in a release that it had started “the process for formal recognition of the local entity” as a national chapter of TI.
In his letter, de Swardt said, “TI strongly supports the right of civil society to raise questions regarding specific issues of transparency and accountability that are in the public domain, which to the best of my understanding is what Transparency Institute of Guyana Inc. (TIGI) has done.” He added, “In principle it is critical for good governance that civil society is free to raise questions about government decisions and practices, including public procurement procedures. Overall, we have an approach of critical but constructive engagement with all stakeholders, i.e. government, private sector and civil society at large.”
He further noted that TI is a global network of over 90 locally-established national chapters and chapters-in-formation, which seeks to promote the systemic conditions that deter corruption. “We are politically non-partisan and do not undertake investigations of alleged corruption or expose individual cases,” de Swardt said.
