Greatest challenge is restoring shattered confidence in system of government – Harmon

May 21, 2015 News

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 “We are tracking expenses, we are tracking public expenditure, we are tracking assets of the State and we are getting information”

Assuming control of the administration of a country is no small challenge. This state of affairs was affirmed by Minister of State and Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Joseph Harmon, during a recent interview.

But the greatest challenge as seen by Harmon, from his standpoint at the Ministry of the Presidency, which he now heads, is to restore the nation’s confidence in the system of Government.   This, Harmon said, is crucial if the citizens are to feel confident enough to deal with Government officials and do so without having to resort to corruption or bribery.
Moreover, the task at hand for the recently elected Government – the coalesced A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) – Harmon said is to ensure that the Government structure is respected and that the public servants understand their duties and obligation to provide public service. And according to Harmon, the public service provided must be of high quality.
“First of all we have to establish confidence in Government so that people who are working in Government understand that their responsibility is service to the people and that is what public service is and they (Government) are not the masters of the people but servants of the people.”
And Harmon, in responding to a question about the fate of some workers who functioned in the capacity of advisors who were employed by the previous regime, pointed out that such contracts would have naturally expired at the end of the elections and at the swearing-in of President David Granger. He however asserted that some programmes under which these contract workers fall could continue until the end of this month. But according to Harmon, “they are not advisors to President Granger but advisors to the former President and therefore we will determine whether in fact he needs their advice. So it is a matter of disengaging and reengaging if necessary.”
Harmon alluded to at least one advisor who had reported for duty on Tuesday while others have basically cleared out their offices as part of a process of transitioning. Explaining the transitioning arrangement, the Minister outlined that there are Cabinet Ministers and VIPs. The latter are those who operated under the former regime.
Harmon disclosed that as part of efforts to keep perceived corruption at bay, the new Government will be paying keen attention to a number of areas. These, he said, will include the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) Chairmanship, the Lottery Fund, and NICIL, which formerly was deemed a “one-man show” headed by Winston Brassington.
He however noted that the aforementioned areas are among those that must be governed by special legislations. He observed though that under the previous administration these areas were taken under the wings of the Government and signalled a lack of confidence on the part of the then administration in the persons who were appointed to manage those positions. “As time went by, as you lost confidence in some Ministers, you took on that function…if you lost confidence in a Board you took on that function so overtime all of these functions seemed to be part of the Office of the President responsibilities,” added Harmon.
And according to him, the new Government will seek to only appoint whom “we have the confidence in and (we will) give them the authority and mandate for them to do their work. As HPS I am not going to be doing all of that. I am not going to be running NIS, I am not going to be running NICIL and I am not going to be running a Lotto Fund.” According to Harmon, the relevant Minister to attend to some of these areas is in fact the Minister of Finance. Mr. Winston Jordan has been appointed as Minister of Finance in the coalesced APNU+AFC Government.
But Harmon has pointed out that a Board of the NIS that is properly structured and chaired will be allowed to do its work under guidance. “I am not going to be an HPS that will try to run everything. The Head of the Presidential Secretariat in the new structure of things will be a Minister of the Presidency and there are specific departments that fall under that Ministry for which I will be responsible under the President of Guyana.”
Harmon sought to point out that already Government has been giving keen attention to NICIL which attracted controversial attention under the previous administration.   “We are tracking expenses, we are tracking public expenditure, we are tracking assets of the State and we are getting information,” said Harmon who related that the Government has been getting information from the previous administration as well as from independent sources to ascertain whether the information received is authentic.
And even as he commented on reports of the destruction of information and/or assets at some Ministries ahead of the swearing-in of President Granger, Harmon asserted that the destruction of Government property is in fact a criminal offence. “Those things are unlawful…and where those things occurred, once there is evidence about it persons responsible will be dealt with according to the law,” noted Harmon as he pointed out that “we are now in the process of transitioning and we are in fact getting information which we will have to double check and verify their accuracy.”
But according to him, “The Guyanese people have been watching for a long time and they were waiting for an opportunity like this. Every single day people are telling us things. They are bringing documents to us which are basically to show that there were some practices in the past that were not above board and these are things as an administration that we will check.”
Harmon however noted that the new Government will not be one to dwell on the past. He therefore recalled that “Brigadier Granger has said that as a nation we have to look forward.” As such he noted that appointed Ministers of the Government will be expected to envision Guyana in the future in terms of how they will take the country forward void of the excesses of the past. But according to him, specific personnel will be appointed to guard against corrupt practices of the past. Such personnel will be tasked with furnishing the Government with the uncovered information after which the way forward will be determined. But in the interim Harmon insisted that “as a nation we will not be held back by an interminable investigation of things that happened in the past.”

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