APNU roasts effectiveness of Integrity Commission

Jan 05, 2012 News

…unable to investigate Minister, other public officials

“How could we have a place awash with corruption and a commission that does not function?” This is the question asked by Prime Ministerial Candidate of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), Dr Rupert Roopnaraine, during an interview yesterday with this newspaper. He was questioning the usefulness of the Integrity Commission since it appeared that it has no capacity to investigate but rather to just receive reports.

APNUs Prime Ministerial Candidate Dr Rupert Roopnaraine

According to Roopnaraine, there are numerous instances of persons in public offices amassing wealth which seems inconsistent with their earnings but the Integrity Commission has failed to undertake a forensic audit.
He believes that it is insufficient to have a Commission that is merely tasked with receiving reports of declarations but cannot investigate.
The Integrity Commission Act, Chapter 19:12 came into effect with the passage of the Integrity Commission Act No 20 of 1997.
The law provides for the establishment of a Commission to ensure probity in public life, particularly among elected officials and public officers entrusted with responsibilities by the State.
Under this Law, the designated public officials are required to submit annual returns of their assets and may be subjected to penalties if they fail to do so without reasonable cause.
Among the declarations that are required to be made are all gifts received by public officials and it is for the Integrity Commission to determine whether those gifts are personal, or whether they belong to the state. The only exceptions are gifts from relatives.
APNU will now be pushing to have a commission in place that has capacity rather than just an office with a secretary.
Only recently too, businessman Robert Badal, who owns the Pegasus Hotel and has controlling interests in the Guyana Stockfeeds Limited, had deemed the commission a farce.
According to Badal, who endorsed the Alliance For Change party for the November 28th General and Regional Elections, the Commission has no powers to investigate incidences of improprieties and as such is a toothless rubberstamp.
The Pegasus CEO said that it is farcical to point to the Integrity Commission as a means of accountability given the fact that if any red flags are raised in the declaration of assets, the Commission is powerless to investigate.
The businessman believes that the Integrity Commission must not be restricted to just receiving returns on assets, “but to investigate public officials.”
He said that ever since 1992, when the current administration took office, there have been numerous allegations of instances of corruption, “of ministers of the government with fancy lifestyles and huge assets…we have never seen one investigation by the Integrity Commission.”