Dear Editor,
What does it take to get punished in this country? Nothing, it seems, rises to that level. Absolutely nothing. What does it take to get fired in this society? Fired? What is that? Punishing and sacking have its own people, as did become very clear in three recent local developments, which I now use as illustrations.
A man could kill another man and be encouraged to negotiate an out-of-court accommodation with the police. Arrangements are made and a mutually satisfactory bargain struck between murderer and law enforcer(s) and that serves as justice. That is, until word and reputation get around that the police have the place and the people to do business with, and that all petitioners are welcomed, be they felons, traffickers, drivers, or swindlers. And when supplicants for the subversion of justice are not turning up in sufficient numbers, then they (guardians of the law) have the freedom to go out and actively solicit business in the manner of prostitutes plying their trade. At least prostitution is an honest affair.
Victims and families cry out for revenge, for retribution, for restoration made possible by the punishments that are issued by the reach of state and law. They don’t get their day in court, since nobody sees the inside of a court. When they do, it is (on too many occasions) a farce wrapped in a joke trapped in a charade. The charades of missing files, witnesses, memories, and the shabbiness of deliberate deceptions masquerading as inexplicable incompetence and the sudden onset of mysterious dumbness. Men play the fool with the full knowledge that the worst that could happen is some momentary embarrassment and a meaningless slap on the wrist. The rich returns outweigh by far the reputational risks. It is another version of out-of-court settlements; thus, the wheels of Guyanese justice.
At the management level in the state media sector, a senior is found in conduct unbecoming. He sends people packing in a defensive gambit, before he himself shares that fate. It is temporary; a cooling off period; the halfway house of calculated remediation and that exercise called due process in this country. In most places with the right stewardship structure in place, it works. But not when blatant political interference converts due process into the mockery of a fallacy. An official whose papers were not in the best of order is given a post-independence award: freedom from correction; freedom from sanction; freedom from any form of official action.
In one stroke, all the sanctimonies about clean governance are reduced to what they are at the crux: patented political hypocrisies. By these standards and exemptions, there are no wrongdoers in this society. No crime, no time. No harm, no foul by those involved. Somebody should tell that to the perpetually cheated taxpaying public burdened by the dirty personnel baggage that has to be carried. I suppose the principled and honour-driven public servants in this country are asking themselves: how foolish are we? There is nothing that recommends (or finds favour) with the values and virtues embraced and delivered. Better to go the other way: rewarding. Heralded.
By the same token, it has to be the same question(s) that are raised by all those who are paying attention to the damning developments at the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board. I table them. An official was caught removing documents (as was alleged). The same official tampered (as was alleged) with tender documents with less than ethical intentions. The same official offered (as was alleged) a sum of money to facilitate a narrative. And the same official is now back on the job and laughing at the rest of Guyana. What is going on here? What does anyone in this land have to do to be put in stocks? When are the people here going to sit up and take stock? Demand a full accounting?
The first thing that should be said about all those “as was alleged” is that there is no ledge left on which Guyanese could perch. Thus, it is a freefall without parachute for the taxpayer. Second, I think that there was a whistleblower; it is anybody’s guess what will be his unhealthy destiny. Who is watching out for him? Third, I believe that if a bidder came and admitted to paying a huge bribe, and a public servant acknowledged receiving the same, nothing would come out of it. Too many friends; too many protecting godfathers. And here is the worst of it: too many people in the chain at all levels, who are part of the collection machinery. I repeat for the incredulous: at all levels.
I will now proceed into open forum, and challenge the Chair of the NPTAB (and the full board), the CEO, and the Financial Secretary of the Ministry of Finance to give a detailed public explanation of what transpired in this instance. It must be comprehensive and foolproof. Do not insult. It is my sweat. Further, I respectfully urge the Honourable Minister to intervene and raise the curtain on this tawdry affair. He must raise Cain first. If the clarity and cleansing of justice does not apply in this particular set of circumstances, then I don’t know what would. Therefore, let us (let me) kiss goodbye to any anti-corruption objectives, any anti-corruption promises and postures, and any anti-corruption plans and platitudes. Spare us, please. Spare me! Count me an infidel, an unbelieving heathen.
As I leave, I ask again: what does one have to do in this country to be considered a perverter? And when will citizens in this town ever experience justice? Incidentally, justice? What is that?
Yours faithfully,
GHK Lall
