Minister of Public Telecommuni-cations Cathy Hughes last week said that she is still awaiting advice from one of the two attorneys she consulted about any potential conflict of interest given her husband’s links to the oil and gas sector.
The local anti-corruption watchdog Transparency Institute of Guyana Inc (TIGI) had expressed concern that there may be a potential conflict of interest for Minister Hughes, given that her husband, attorney Nigel Hughes, is a managing director of the Hughes, Fields & Stoby law firm, which in September launched an office in Houston, Texas to provide legal services to clients in the oil and gas sector.
“Just the fact that Nigel Hughes is the husband of Minister Cathy Hughes means that there is a potential conflict of interest. I hasten to reiterate that I am not, neither is TIGI, attempting to attack or make accusations against anyone,” TIGI President Troy Thomas had said in response to questions asked by this newspaper.
In October, Hughes had said that she received advice from one attorney and was awaiting advice from another as well as from Cabinet.
Approached at parliament two Fridays ago, the Minister told Stabroek News that she had seen the attorney about a week earlier and he had indicated that he would send his advice. Up to the time she spoke with this newspaper, she was still waiting for it.
Following TIGI’s comments, the minister said that she had nothing to hide. She disclosed that she had declared her assets and interests to the Integrity Commission and Cabinet was informed about the intention of her husband’s law firm to open an office in Texas for oil industry clients. She, however, had stopped short of saying how she will deal with the potential conflict of interest.
Subsequently, following an event at the Ministry of Finance, Hughes told reporters that if there were a discussion that had anything to do with oil and gas in Cabinet, “I would recuse myself.” She added that she had gone to independent legal advisors to get an idea of what else she should do.
“I have done all that was legally required of me. Legally you are required to respond and report to the Integrity Commission. Although many people, including the Opposition Leader said he ain’t report, Cathy Hughes reported long before this incident. So, they require me to report. They require me to inform Cabinet. I have done those. Nobody said to me go and get independent advice but I said in this situation let’s do that. There is precedence all over the world. This is not a new situation, so that is what we are looking at and I promise you that as soon as we get the guidance I would be more than happy,” she said.
TIGI had pointed out that ministers of government should give more than oral assurances to issues of conflict of interest and the Integrity Commission should lead the way in having sound policies to address the issue.
Thomas, in questioning the issue at hand, said, “A new code of conduct for public officers [has] been implemented…the code speaks of conflicts of interest. I would like to know whether any declaration about the new business venture was made to the Integrity Commission, which, I believe, should handle matters involving ministers of government. If such a declaration was made, what steps were prescribed for the minister to take, and perhaps the firm as well, to guarantee that no conflict of interest will be acted upon? What continuing efforts do the minister and the firm have to make to keep conflict of interest at bay in the future?”
“TIGI is not satisfied that conflict of interest is ruled out or adequately dealt with,” he added, before later saying, “We don’t want to take away any legitimate economic engagements from anyone, we expect them to be smart in business and when they do well, the country also benefits. But the problem here is that there is a major conflict of interest in Mr Hughes playing an integral role in linking people who might get into the oil industry in Guyana, given that his wife is a current minister of government.”
Thomas said since the launch of the firm, the public was not aware of Minister Hughes’ role or if she has declared insulation or documented commitments to a non-conflicting stance.
Minister of State Joseph Harmon last month said that government supports the decision by Hughes to recuse herself from oil and gas discussions.
