Pronouncements made by Governance Advisor Gail Teixeira on corruption are indeed interesting, having dismissed the ranking on corruption in Guyana by Transparency International (TI). Specifically, Ms. Teixeira asserts that because TI conducts a non-empirical survey, their work cannot be trusted.
While her position seems a reasonable one, everyone knows that to obtain empirical evidence on corruption is almost impossible, especially when there are poor accounting systems in a cash driven economy; when there are information problems and compromised oversight functions; when there are high tax rates, bureaucratic delays and underpaid public officials; and when there is illegal wealth accumulation without tax compliance. These are all precursors to corruption, indicating that if Guyana has any of these concerns, then corruption exists.
Incidentally, corruption exists in many, if not all, countries. It is a problem both of degree and of kind, and it is as old as civilization itself. Corruption could be different from one location to the next and the degree to which it may manifest itself depends on the personalities, policies and penalties in different countries. Consequently, for anyone to give the impression that it does not exist, such a person is removed from reality.
It should be noted also that corruption goes together with ‘cover-up’. One does not exist without the other, for if you have corruption you must have a ‘cover-up’, in order to keep things in the dark and away from public scrutiny. For this reason cases of corruption can be difficult to prove beyond some legal threshold or standard. Typically, corruption involves transactions that are not easily detectable. Usually, there are no written contracts; and even if they are, these contracts are not enforceable, or those who have a public responsibility to enforce the law may not want to enforce them. A consequence of corruption is that it spawns an extensive underground economy and legitimate businesses that obey the rules and pay taxes are forced out of existence because of unfair competition. For example, money laundering and efforts aimed to make drug money clean could be invested in a ‘front activity’ that provides goods and services at cheaper prices than tax paying businesses. And is it not interesting that Ms. Teixeira once said that Guyanese should boycott businesses run by drug dealers and their cohorts? Did her singular pronouncement have any empirical evidence? Was anyone named, charged or found guilty in the Courts of Guyana? The record would show that nothing was done about the drug person or persons who Ms. Teixeira identified without naming them; and had she remained as Minister of Home Affairs, I am confident she would have executed a clean-up. But this course of action was not pursued as she was removed without reason from the Ministry where she could have made a difference. Consequently, the outcome of her pronouncement was that no follow up was undertaken by her successor. Is this a cover-up, is this corruption or both? What is your considered opinion?
Meanwhile, paying bribes to gatekeepers in order to by-pass the rules for paying taxes at ports of entry and exit are events that are not unheard of. President Ramotar recently lamented such a case in relation to the gold smuggling matter in Curacao. Awarding public projects through compromised tendering and poor selection criteria that result in shoddy work (contracts for roads, wharves, school construction and books, among others) and no penalties enforced are examples that are not unfamiliar to Guyanese. Unexplained wealth that appears as if someone has found a magic lamp with wishes of endless money and wealth are usually symptomatic of corruption and ‘cover-up’ as such persons cannot explain their wealth and do not have tax compliance certificates associated with their income and wealth accumulation.
So how do you deal with corruption and cover-up? We need strong public institutions (police, audit department and firms, Courts).We need laws and rules that promote the public interest such as whistle blower protection and professional investigative reporting as observed so many years ago in the Watergate Scandal that terminated President Nixon’s tenure in office (http://en.wikipedia. org/wiki/Watergate_scandal). President Donald Ramotar has spoken out against corruption, but no action has been taken so far. We await his lead on this issue.
Finally, corruption is like the wind. We do not see the wind, but we know it exists, as it rustles through the leaves on a tree. We know the wind exists because of the effects of Sandy on the environment; and we know the wind exists because it caresses our faces as we stroll along the seawall when the tide is up. But there is one caveat: while we cannot control the wind, we certainly can control corruption, for it man made. Take concrete action President Ramotar, you need to clean house.
Yours faithfully,
C. Kenrick Hunte
