Accountability Watch

Even though a statute puts power in the hands of a Returning Officer, that Returning Officer will understand that he holds in his hands the future and stability of Guyana as we go forward, because every vote must be made to count.

Last Monday, Guyanese voters took to the polling stations to cast their ballots for general and regional elections following the 21 December 2018 vote of no confidence in the Government.

This is the time for all stakeholders to demonstrate commitment to democratic principles, processes and institutions and not lose sight of the fact that legitimate elections represent the voice and will of the people.  United Nations Resident Coordinator Today is a very important day in the history of post-Independence Guyana.

Global Witness is an international watchdog group that ‘campaigns to end environmental and human rights abuses driven by the exploitation of natural resources and corruption in the global and economic system’.

(Part II) Last Friday, the APNU+AFC coalition rather belatedly launched its manifesto for the forthcoming general and regional elections.

Our financial laws, rules and regulations are based strictly on the cash-basis of accounting.

After 47 years of membership of the European Union (EU), Brexit has become a reality.

Corruption hinders economic growth and the delivery of public services. In some cases, corruption even deprives people of their human rights and dignity, like when citizens are coerced to provide sexual favours in exchange for public services, such as health and education – a practice known as sexual extortion or “sextortion”.

In last week’s article, we began to highlight the key events that took place in 2019 which presented significant challenges for democracy and the rule of law in Guyana.

Last year will certainly go down as one of the most challenging years for democracy and the rule of law in Guyana.

Last week, we took a break from the local setting to give coverage to recent developments in trade between the United States, Mexico and Canada.

After 25 years, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is being replaced by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) amid criticisms of the benefits achieved so far.

Angola, Africa’s second largest oil exporting country with a GDP per capita of US$3,230 in 2018, has recovered over US$5 billion of state funds, including $3 billion siphoned off the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) through corruption and money-laundering.

The planet is on fire and our window of escape is getting harder and harder to reach the longer we wait to act.

Climate change is no longer a long-term problem. We are confronted now with a global climate crisis.

In our article of 25 February 2019, we reported that former Maldives President Abdulla Yameen was arrested for allegedly receiving bribes and kickbacks estimated at US$80 million involving leasing islands and reefs.

Iceland’s largest fishing conglomerate, Samherji, used an anonymous shell company in the Marshall Islands to launder illegal fishing activities off the coasts of West Africa and to bribe members of the Namibia government.

This week’s article is a continuation of last week’s in which we provided a background to the United Kingdom’s (UK) proposed withdrawal from the European Union (EU), known as Brexit, following the referendum of June 2016.

The issue of the United Kingdom (UK) leaving the European Union (EU) of which it has been a member since 1972, has seen two Prime Ministers – David Cameron and Theresa May – resigning from their positions over what is known as “Brexit”.

The Amazon rainforests provide 20 percent of the planet’s oxygen and is home to an estimated one million indigenous people from some 500 tribes as well as three million species of plants and animals.