-Murray tells transparency group dinner
Local corruption watchdog, the Transparency Institute of Guyana Inc (TIGI) has been put on notice to expect its work to increasingly draw attacks from government, even as it has been urged to also hold civil society accountable since major scandals begin as small issues.
Speaking at TIGI’s inaugural fund raising dinner at the Pegasus Hotel on Friday evening, Chairman of the Trinidad and Tobago Transparency Institute Deryck Murray pointed to the experience of his own organization over its 15-year history and advised TIGI not to be disheartened when it is criticised by government, since the attacks will become more intense as the organisation matures as a body.
“Don’t think that in 15 years time the government is going to be any more welcoming to you than they are now because by the very nature of what we do—talk about governance issues and talk about corruption and anti-corruption—you will always be perceived as anti-government,” Murray, a former West Indies cricket team vice-captain and wicketkeeper, told the packed audience, which included members of the diplomatic community, political, private sector and religious leaders
He recalled that a delegation from his group recently met with the Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s administration and when questioned why it was anti-government, it responded “we are anti what governments do when they get into power and start to abuse that power.” When that government was in opposition, it was in agreement with his organisation’s cause, he added.
Murray advised TIGI to not lose focus and instead place emphasis on processes rather than personalities in the award of contracts, the appointments to state boards and other key positions as issues of governance should be addressed in an objective, impartial and non-partisan manner. “We will criticise… whoever inflicts the wrong upon us as a society and, therefore, if it is the government that is responsible then we will speak out against what the government does and that takes a certain amount of moral culture and it has to be done. And therefore, if you feel deeply about your country, if you feel deeply about righting wrongs, then you do it,” he said.
Murray also charged TIGI to ensure that it readily holds civil society organizations as equally accountable for not doing things in an open, transparent and accountable manner.
He informed that he had shared with TIGI a copy of a manual used by his organisation that may be used as a guideline in edifying civil society on a holistic transparent structure. “We are saying… you must have a structure, you must have a constitution, [an] annual general meeting, you must have accounts,” he said.
Giving an anecdotal reference of the hypocrisy of society, he told of a parent who was called into his son’s school because of his bullying behaviour and his having stolen a pencil from a classmate.
“The father went to the school very embarrassed… after[ward] he said, ‘I never want that experience again. You cannot embarrass me like that… just tell me and I will bring a box from the office for you,’’ he recounted.
“Such is how we have come to be able to sit here when it suits us… So, where do we become so immune to what is corruption [that] we only think it’s the $100m project is corruption?” he added.
Murray also explained that in his homeland, there have been instances where politicians in money scandals have been given a pass and his organisation was instead criticized by the people on the rationale that the politician “didn’t steal from us, he stole from somebody else and look he fix our road… leave the man he doing a good job.”
He also reflected on years past, when sport headlines were about the actual games and sport was used as a bonding mechanism between peoples as opposed to now when scandals of disgraced athletes dominate the news. “Sport was the bastion of everything that was pure… we all looked, regardless of colour or creed, we looked to the Olympic games and it united us… nowadays, many of the headlines of sports is on corruption in sports. It puts a damper on celebration… It just shows how corruption has come to dominate conversation,” he said.
Meanwhile, in his brief remarks President of TIGI Gino Persaud stated that with corruption being the most talked about issue in the two previous years, he hoped for impartiality and welcoming by the society and government.
“We envisage that in our national conversation on corruption, that there must be a space for intelligent and analytical discussion without the ad hominem attacks, without the anonymous defamation on anonymous blogs, without being labeled, without being labeled hostile, without being labeled bitter,” said Persaud.
“We will not accept any entity or individual telling us that there is no room for Transparency Guyana or that there is no room at the inn… it is not Christmas and we are not in not Bethlehem,” he added, having emphasised that transparency is crucial to development.
British High Commissioner Andrew Ayre, in brief remarks, also focused on good relations with civil society in an effort to stamp out corruption and enhance governance.
Said Ayre, “A vocal and active civil society goes hand-in-hand with a clean government. Civil society is therefore a key factor in supporting and enhancing a state’s efforts to promote transparency and combat corruption. Civil society can act as a watchdog and whistleblower and should therefore be used as an ally in the quest for better governance.”
He added, “A clean business environment goes hand-in-hand with a clean business sector. Legitimate business can only prosper when threats to it, be they from corruption or money laundering, are addressed. In so many ways, Guyana is going in the right direction with a flourishing private sector and notable reductions in poverty. It is important that this good work continues.”
