Most people on the planet depend on rivers for drinking water purposes, irrigating food crops, generating power and transporting goods, among others. However, the climate crisis, caused mainly by human activity, is fueling extreme weather across the globe resulting in water levels in some of the world’s major rivers dropping significantly. The current heat waves are also drying up rivers in the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Many of these rivers are shrinking in length and breadth, with patches of riverbed poking out above the water, causing them to become virtually impassable. These include: Colorado River (United States), Yangtze River (China), Rhine River (Germany), River Po (Italy), Loire River (France), and the River Danube in Western Europe that passes through ten countries.
The Yangtze River in China is the world’s third longest river that supports about a third of the country’s population. However, falling water levels have resulted in parts of the river being at least 16 feet below normal which is the lowest level in recorded history. A previously submerged island has also emerged revealing three Buddhist statues believed to be 600 years old. One of the statues depicts a monk sitting on a lotus pedestal. The heatwaves are the most extreme in six decades and have seen temperatures regularly exceeding 40 degrees Celsius or 104 degrees Fahrenheit in several cities in China.
Europe is facing its worst drought in at least 500 years, with two-thirds of the continent in a state of alert or warning, reducing inland shipping, electricity production and the yields of certain crops. The River Danube has fallen to one of its lowest levels in almost a century, exposing the hulks of more than 20 German warships sunk during World War II as the Germans retreated from advancing Soviet forces. The sunken ships still hamper river traffic during low water levels.
According to a study published by Nature Climate Change, at the current rate of global greenhouse gas emissions, nearly all marine species will be at high or critical risk of extinction in less than 80 years. The oceans absorb more than 90 percent of excess heat attributable to emissions. It also absorbs carbon dioxide, resulting in ocean acidification that impacts marine life. See https://www.yahoo.com/news/nearly-all-marine-species-threatened-by-climate-change-study-192003356.html.
On the corruption front, former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak began a 12-year prison sentence after losing an appeal against his conviction on charges relating to a multi-billion dollar scandal at the State Fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). In July 2020, a lower court found him guilty of criminal breach of trust, abuse of power and money laundering for illegally receiving about $10 million from SRC International, a former unit of 1MDB. Prosecutors claimed that some US$4.5 billion was stolen from 1MDB of which more than US$1 billion was traced to accounts linked to Najib. Various recipients of the siphoned funds used the money to buy luxury assets and real estate, a Picasso painting, a private jet, a superyacht, hotels, jewelry, and to finance the 2013 Hollywood film “The Wolf of Wall Street”. Najib is the first Malaysian Prime Minister to be convicted.
Now for today’s article. The Leader of the Opposition, Mr. Aubrey Norton, sought the intervention of the courts in relation to the appointment of the members of the Integrity Commission. He contended that there was a lack of proper consultation with him, as required by the law and therefore the appointments were “illegal, null, void and of no legal effect”. In dismissing the application, the Chief Justice found that the President had meaningfully consulted the Leader of the Opposition. Accordingly, she affirmed the appointment of the members of the Commission.
The Chief Justice referred to Section 3 of the Integrity Commission Act that provides for the professional criteria of nominees and stated that the Leader of the Opposition could have examined whether the nominees met the requirements. In this way, he could have made a contribution to their appointments. In our view, in arguing a case for changes in the composition of the Commission, Mr. Norton could have cited the Jamaican model that places greater emphasis on the skills of chartered accountants and lawyers. The chairperson of the Jamaican Integrity Commission is Justice Seymour Panton while the other members are Pamela Ellis (Chartered Accountant & Auditor General), Eric Crawford (Chartered Accountant), Justice Lloyd Hibbert, and Wayne Powell (Justice of Peace).
Section 3 of the Act provides for the chairperson and other members of the Commission to be appointed by the President after consultation with the Leader of the Opposition. The chairperson must be a person who is or was, or who is qualified to be appointed a Puisne Judge of the High Court, or any other fit and proper person. The other members, who must not be less two and not more than four, are to be appointed from among persons appearing to the President to be qualified, having had experience and demonstrated capacity in law, administration of justice, public administration, social service, finance or accountancy, or any other discipline.
By Section 4, the appointments of the members are for such period not less than a year as specified by the President. Their emoluments and other terms and conditions of appointment are also determined by the President after consultation with the Leader of the Opposition. Members are eligible for reappointment on the expiry of their tenure of office.
Guyana a signatory to the IACAC
In March 1996, Guyana was a signatory to the Inter-American Convention Against Corruption (IACAC) whose main objectives are:
(a) To promote and strengthen the development of the mechanisms needed to prevent, detect, punish and eradicate corruption; and
(b) To promote, facilitate and regulate cooperation among the States Parties to ensure the effectiveness of the measures and actions to prevent, detect, punish and eradicate corruption in the performance of public functions and acts of corruption specifically related to such performance.
IACAC emphasized that corruption undermines the legitimacy of public institutions and strikes at society, moral order and justice, as well as at the comprehensive development of peoples; and fighting corruption strengthens democratic institutions and prevents distortions in the economy, improprieties in public administration and damage to a society’s moral fibre. It further stated that preventing and fighting corruption involves taking appropriate action against persons who commit acts of corruption in the performance of public functions, or acts specifically related to such performance; and there is a need to strengthen participation by civil society in the fight against corruption.
Parties to the Convention agreed to consider implementing measures to create, implement and strengthen standards of conduct for ‘the correct, honorable, and proper fulfillment of public functions’. These standards are aimed at preventing conflicts of interest and ensuring the proper conservation and use of resources entrusted to public officials in the performance of their functions. They also require these officials to report to appropriate authorities acts of corruption in the performance of public functions. In this way, public confidence in the integrity of public officials and government processes is preserved. A key requirement is the declaration of income, assets and liabilities of persons who perform public functions in certain posts.
Establishment of Guyana’s Integrity Commission
Following the signing of IACAC, Guyana’s Integrity Commission Act was passed in March 1997 to make provisions for securing the integrity of persons in public life. It replaced the predecessor legislation of 1991 which was never made operational. The Act defines a person in public life as a person who holds a specified office as outlined in Section 42 as well as Schedule I. These persons, along with their spouses and children, are required to make annual declarations of income, and assets and liabilities to the Commission within a specified timeframe. The failure to do so constitutes an offence punishable on conviction by a fine of $25,000 and imprisonment of not less than six months and not more than one year.
Work of the Commission: 1997-2015
It took two years for the Act to become operationalised with the appointment of three members of the Commission exclusively from the religious community. Arguably, they would have lacked the relevant skills to properly evaluate the declarations made to the Commission and therefore it would have been necessary for the Commission to engage the services of professional persons, as provided for by the Act. However, this was not done. That apart, a dispute subsequently arose in the re-appointment of the chairperson and other members of the Commission without consultation with the Leader of the Opposition. This resulted in the filing of a judicial review on the matter.
As a result of the court action, the late Bishop George resigned from the position of chairperson in 2006. Without a quorum, the Commission could not have proceeded with its work. To compound matters, the then Opposition announced that its Members of Parliament would not be filing returns with the Commission until the judicial process was concluded. From then on until 2018, the Commission functioned with the services of a chairperson while the two other members ceased to function with effect from May 2012.
Work of the Commission: post-2015
In August 2016, former Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo described the Commission as a “toothless puddle” with “a lot of bark and no teeth”. He indicated that the Government was keen on strengthening the Commission with investigative and prosecutorial powers, and to make it a constitutional body with reporting relationship to, and oversight by, the National Assembly; and that he was examining recommendations for an amendment to the Act. The former Prime Minister further stated:
It is awful that the Commission, where persons in high offices were expected to declare their assets, was headless for several years. It remains so to this day and we need a process by which we can have this important body reconstituted and perform the functions for which it has been established to ensure that we don’t have officials and others benefitting from disproportionate wealth, or ill-gotten wealth, or unjust enrichment.
The then President added his voice by stating that the Commission was poorly funded and dysfunctional, and that the intention was to promulgate the necessary legislation to make it functional.
In February 2018, mainly through the efforts of civil society, the Commission was activated with the appointment of three new members under the chairpersonship of retired Judge Kumar Doraisami. The other members were: Rabindranauth Persaud and Rosemary Benjamin-Noble. However, no action was taken to strengthen the role of the Commission via legislative changes. That apart, the Commission’s budgetary allocations were inadequate to enable it to effectively discharge its mandate. For example, the budget in 2017 was a mere $1.921 million or $1.652 million per month, and it is not clear what the staffing was at that time.
At the end of 2020, there were eleven staff members, with a budget of $42.168 million, equivalent to US$210,000. In contrast, Jamaica’s Integrity Commission, which merged the roles, activities and responsibilities of the Office of the Contractor-General, the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption, and the Integrity Commission into a single anti-corruption agency, had a staffing of 105 in 2020 and a budget of J$526.5 million, equivalent to US$3.7 million.
Given its meagre budgetary allocations and limited staffing, the Commission’s work remained largely restricted to monitoring the submission of annual financial declarations of Members of Parliament (MPs) and other senior public officials. At the end of 2018, only 50 percent of the Commission’s authorized positions were filled. For 2020, the Commission’s budget was reduced from $45 million to $42 million. This state of affairs raises important questions about the seriousness of successive Administrations to have a fully functioning Commission in place to assist in preventing and fighting corruption and mismanagement of public resources, and to hold corrupt public officials to account.
After their tenure of office expired, the Commission was be reconstituted on 30 May 2022, through the appointment of a five-member Commission. The new Commissioners are: Chandra Gajraj (Chair), Kim Kyte-Thomas, Haresh Tiwari, Mohamed Ispahani-Haniff, and Wayne Bowman. The Secretary to the Commission is Amanda Jaisingh. Its budgetary allocation has increased to $67 million in 2022 but this is far from adequate.
To be continued –
