Business executive Chandra Gajraj was yesterday named as Chair of the Integrity Commission.
Gajraj was sworn in at the Office of the President. The board of the previous Integrity Commission expired on February 21, 2021, and the process to appoint a new one commenced since last year.
According to a statement from the Office of the President, the other members of the Integrity Commission are Dr Kim Kyte-Thomas, Mohamed Ispahani Haniff, Hardesh Tewari and Wayne Bowman, who were sworn in by Chief Magistrate (ag) Judy Latchman.
Gajraj, the President outlined, has 28 years of experience and service as a corporate secretary of Demerara Bank; 50 years as the Managing Director of Trust Company Limited and she is presently the General Secretary of the Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha.
He said that the remaining members are also outstanding Guyanese.
Kyte-Thomas, who is an “outstanding Guyanese, an outstanding product of our legal profession”, is Head of the Department of Law at the University of Guyana, former Solicitor General and former Magistrate, according to the statement.
Mohamad Haniff is a former school teacher, a former engineering technician, a former assistant civil engineer and an Imam at the New Amsterdam Central Jama Masjid since the 1980s, the statement said.
Tewari, in addition to being an entrepreneur, a social activist and a religious leader, is a chartered accountant having gained the accreditation of ACCA.
Bowman, the statement said, is a former national chairman of the Assemblies of God Church, associate pastor of the Plaisance Church of God, and a leader among young people. He has several positions and has been instrumental in school basketball development in Guyana while functioning as a social activist and a religious personality.
“These are the credentials of the Guyanese citizens that we appoint today. I have said before that in charting this course of ‘One Guyana’ we will seek out those who have the credentials and are willing and ready to serve at every level in moving our country forward”, the President was quoted as saying.
The objective of the Integrity Commission is to ensure the integrity of persons in public life. Those persons who come under the act are expected to file annual declarations with complete particulars of the assets and liabilities as on the relevant date, and the income during a period of twelve months immediately prior
to the relevant date whether the assets were held by that person in his own name or in the name of any other person and of the spouse and children of such person to the extent to which such person has knowledge of the same.
