Dear Editor,
History was created in Guyana on Thursday 13th April, 2017 when the country’s National Assembly debated and passed the State Assets Recovery Bill, which paved the way for the establishment of the State Assets Recovery Agency. It should be noted that, Guyana, through the passage of that Bill, which was facilitated by the APNU+AFC coalition, demonstrated that it was prepared to comply with the provisions of the UN Convention Against Corruption that was signed by the PPP/C government in 2008 but which that regime did nothing to implement. During the parliamentary debates on that bill the opposition PPP/C continued its vicious attacks on the bill consistent with its approach after the David Granger-led government announced the establishment of the State Assets Recovery Unit within the Ministry of the Presidency. Minister of State Joseph Harmon in his address to the parliament, reminded the House and the nation that when the APNU+AFC government came to office in 2015, it asked persons who had acquired state assets illegally to return them and many failed to do so. Among those who failed to adhere to the government’s request were members of the PPP leadership and former government officials.
Given its 23 years rule which produced unprecedented corruption in the country and the criminalization of the state, the PPP leadership is aware that it is being held accountable for the disappearance of numerous state assets and the accumulation, at home and abroad, by its members, of massive wealth during that period. In the debate the Minister of Legal Affairs and Attorney General, Hon. Basil Williams, made the point that the bill was government’s reaffirmation to stamp out corruption and that there would be no safe haven for corrupt persons. In other words the APNU+AFC government has signalled that wherever the people’s stolen assets are stashed they will be tracked down, confiscated by legal means and returned to the people.
It is clear that the government is trying to ensure that persons involved in the operations of the public service, who used and those who intend to use their positions to illegally amass wealth, will not benefit from their illegal actions. It is this realization that has driven and is still driving the PPP’s hostility to the establishment of the new agency and its mandate that is embodied in the legislation.
Given this situation, real politics made it impossible for the opposition and the government to find common ground in parliament on the asset recovery legislation. Because the PPP had made it very clear that, no way under the sun it was prepared to support the State Assets Recovery legislation, its posture in parliament during the debate and its eventual abandonment of the parliamentary process on that day must be seen for what it was, a mere playing to the galleries of its constituents.
The debate on the SARA legislation was not an ordinary one. The political stakes were high. Both opposition and government wanted their positions to prevail since the political consequences of not doing so have the potential of determining which party could win the 2020 general and regional elections. In passing the bill, the government has made a significant step in fulfilling its election promise to fight corruption and recover stolen state assets. In doing so it has enhanced its electoral fortunes come the next elections.
For the PPP, its attempt to delay the passing of the bill by appealing for it to be sent to a parliamentary select committee, if conceded to by the government, would have been a major victory for that party. It would have meant that their intention to kill the bill before it was debated and passed would have succeeded, thereby ensuring that the extent of the wrongdoings of former government officials and their cronies, including the acts of rape of the country’s resources, would have remained hidden. This would have provided the PPP leadership (i) with the space it needs to consolidate its support base for the 2020 elections; (ii) to continue its masquerade of misrepresentation of information; (iii) provide it with more space to propagandise its supporters with mythical explanations that the government’s accusations against them of corruption was nothing but the spewing of hot air; and (iv) that the government was just being vindictive and spiteful in its pursuit of alleged wrongdoings by them.
The nation will be well served when the billions of dollars in stolen assets are returned allowing the government to have more money to spend on wages and salaries and the social sector. Equally important, the Bill after it is assented to by His Excellency David Granger, will act as a deterrent to the criminally inclined and reduce the losses that the nation suffers annually from the viciousness of the greedy.
Yours faithfully,
Tacuma Ogunseye
