Dear Editor,
I have read with great interest the many comments made in relation to the news item carried by SN (June 17) which highlighted an article I wrote for the Weekend Mirror on ‘Corruption – The Time Has Come To Take Action.’ The comments do not focus on the issue of corruption and how to resolve it, which was a debate I hoped to trigger, but on my “sincerity” and “credibility” because I have only now found my voice. The question is asked: Why now? Also some deeper political or personal motive is speculated upon. In relation to the former I offer an article published over a year ago in the Weekend Mirror entitled ‘Dealing With Corruption’ which I set out below. Unfortunately SN did not highlight this article which also uses the word ‘pervasive’ to describe corruption, so that it did not attract the publicity that my most recent article did. Also, on ‘Plain Talk’ during last year I was asked questions about corruption and I responded that “There will be no sacred cows” if I had something to do with it.
My article of last year is set out:
“Dealing With Corruption
“Ralph Ramkarran
“Corruption is wrong and wasteful. It reduces resources available for development by unlawfully diverting them from public to private hands, and degrades the moral quality of the society. The Government has taken important steps to deal with it.
“But as Government expenditures have increased resulting from expanded economic activity and an increasing inflow of funds, so has corruption. The initial steps, having now been entrenched, the time has arrived for further steps to be considered.
“When the PPP/C Government assumed office in 1992, annual reports by the Auditor General, required by law, had not been presented for ten years. This was unprecedented in the history of Guyana and those responsible for that state of affairs demonstrate no bashfulness in railing against corruption today. An independent authority, the Auditor General, has been able since the advent of the PPP/C to office to judge whether state funds are disbursed in accordance with law or established practice. The Auditor General makes criticisms and recommendations and the Minister of Finance is required to respond to these in the National Assembly. He does so, maybe late, but this is a recent development and I have no doubt that as the requirement becomes systematized, so will the punctuality of the Minister’s Statement.
There have been criticisms that some recommendations of the Auditor General are not implemented. If these criticisms are justified then they must be dealt with promptly. This can only strengthen accountability and eliminate questions about the Government’s commitment to root out corruption which is already demonstrated in the maintenance of an independent Auditor General who is fearless in giving his opinions. He is often cited by critics of the Government.
“The PPP/C Government also established the Integrity Commission under the law passed for the purpose. A wide category of officials are required to submit annual returns of their assets and do so. While there have been some recent legal issues regarding the establishment of the Commission, the legal requirement remains. The time has long past for a review of the law relating to the Integrity Commission.
“Having got it established and functioning, it became abundantly clear that the Commission needed enforcement powers. For example, some persons covered by the Commission have publicly declared their intention not to submit returns.
“The failure or lack of capacity of the Commission to take action exposes its weaknesses. The law should be strengthened to give the Commission the power to impose sanctions directly or through police action. For this purpose it needs an investigative arm.
“Information is a vital weapon in the struggle against corruption. And public scrutiny is indispensable. That is why a Freedom of Information Act has become a pressing need. The Government has indicated that the legislation is being drafted. In the Budget debate the Prime Minister undertook that it will be presented to the National Assembly before August.
“The sooner this legislation is enacted and the sooner it is able to engage the aid of the public in widening the scope of scrutiny, the sooner will corruption be reduced. Make no mistake – the grief to the Government which will result from such a law is not to be underestimated.
“There will be endless disputes, leading to much litigation, as to whether the information sought is legitimately allowable. But this is the stuff of democracy. Everybody gains in the end.
“The establishment of a constitutional body called the Procurement Commission was recommended in the report of the Constitution Reform Commission in 2000. Its function was to oversee government procurement. The constitution was amended to provide for such a commission in 2002. It has not yet been established. This is hardly acceptable. While there may be serious issues to be resolved before this commission could be established, the Government has dealt with and resolved serious issues before. No one is convinced that sufficient effort is being made to establish the Procurement Commission. Public confidence in government’s determination to reduce corruption will be enhanced once this Commission is established.
“The Commission can help to promote public confidence in procurement by the publication of bids and awards and all relevant and appropriate documentation to enable the public scrutiny to be made as to the merit of the process and the awards. These mechanisms exist elsewhere and Guyana does not have to reinvent the wheel. We only need to adapt whatever exists elsewhere which has been successful and which would be appropriate for Guyana.
“One important addition to the armoury of weapons to attack corruption which ought to be considered is an ethics law which should regulate the conduct of and set standards for all elected officials. It is essential for the maintenance of public confidence in the service of elected officials that they operate on the basis of recognized rules which would limit or eliminate the scope for nepotism and corruption.
“This law would apply to members of Regional Democratic Councils and of Neighbourhood Democratic Councils which spend public funds. An ethics law would regulate the composition and work of Works Committees which recommend awards of contracts.
“In this way nepotism, wherever it exists in small communities or small bodies, can be prevented. It might not be possible to publish all awards made at local levels but certainly those above a certain value can be publicized to ensure transparency.
“Petty corruption which impacts directly on citizens, and which causes great distress, is now very pervasive in Guyana.
“It is very difficult to eliminate. As the economy grows and salaries increase, petty corruption will be reduced. But in the meantime targeted investigation and prosecution is very much possible and can be effective in limiting its scope and effect.
“Finally, there have been complaints about the quality of some work produced by contractors. Strengthening the process and quality of engineers’ certification and the establishing of sanctions where such certification suggest hints of collaboration between engineers and contractors would assist in resolving this problem.”
Yours faithfully,
Ralph Ramkarran
