Five months after it was presented to Cabinet, a Code of Conduct for ministers is still to be finalised.
Questioned on the matter during a press conference on Wednesday, Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman said while some feedback was received, some agencies and non-governmental organisations have asked for further time to submit their responses and they have been given up to the end of this month to submit their responses.
The Code of Conduct was presented to Cabinet since July last year. In November, then Governance Minister Trotman said government was hoping to receive feedback from civil society on the document in the coming weeks.
In September, then President of the Transparency Institute of Guyana Inc Calvin Bernard had said government should create a mechanism through which the public can meaningfully contribute to the Code of Conduct. Although he thought the draft code was soft, Bernard commended the government for moving towards putting it in place but stressed that it was important that the process is done correctly.
Earlier in September, Trotman had announced that the draft was completed, but said government would await the public’s reaction before it became final. Ministers, however, were said to be abiding by it.
The proposed code, seen by Stabroek News, sets out actions that could result in ministers, parliamentarians and other public office holders facing disciplinary action or being fired, including failure to declare conflicts of interest or accepting expensive gifts or “lavish” entertainment from persons doing business with government.
