In view of the revelation by Assistant Commissioner of Police Calvin Brutus that he received over $46 million in wedding and Christ-mas presents, former speaker of the National Assembly Ralph Ramkarran yesterday recommended that there should be a law that precludes government em-ployees and parliamentarians from accepting gifts.
“… There has to be [law] because it will continue. In modern societies they can’t even take a plane ticket. I am not saying we should mirror that, but there have to be rules and enforcement of those,” he told Stabroek News yesterday.
Ramkaran pointed to the United Kingdom’s Gift and Hospitality Policy. He said that this outlines its Civil Service Code which states that civil servants must not accept gifts or hospitality or receive other benefits from anyone which might reasonably be seen to compromise their personal judgement or integrity. “… Public servants across the board must follow the rules and not engage in private business and [there is] a rule against the acceptance of gifts by public servants including parliamentarians that is public and has an enforcement mechanism that is subject to public scrutiny,” he said.