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Jagdeo shies away from disclosing wealth, again
Former President Bharrat Jagdeo has yet again shied away from addressing issues relating to his accumulation of extreme wealth.
Kaieteur News Publisher, Glenn Lall
Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo
Jagdeo hosted a press conference on Friday last at Freedom House. He said that he felt obligated to address the media before his journey to the United States for a series of meetings.
The former President who is now the Leader of the Opposition did not disclose the nature of his meetings. At this forum, Jagdeo limited the questions of reporters.
Nevertheless, he was asked about the wealth he accumulated during his tenure as President. Jagdeo was also asked to respond to Vice President, Khemraj Ramjattan’s statements to the effect that the very fact that he tries to escape scrutiny on his wealth speaks volume about the source.
Jagdeo sought to escape actually addressing the issue. Instead, he employed his usual “dodge mechanism.”
He said that he expected such a question from Kaieteur News and then sought to attack Kaieteur News owner, Glenn Lall.
“That is the Glenn Lall question to the reporters to ask, so I am not blaming you. You have to ask that. But you should ask, since the President wants Commissions of Inquiry, there should be an Inquiry into the man that was shot by Glenn Lall on the East Bank Road.
“He was shot and killed in cold blood and there was no inquest. He (Glenn Lall) was never charged for manslaughter, murder or anything else… You should ask if there would be a Commission of Inquiry into that extra judicial killing,” said Jagdeo.
This occurred during the tenure of the People’s Progressive Party. Besides, Jagdeo had 13 years as President. He could have invoked presidential powers to achieve whatever aims he wanted to at that time, an observer said.
After his tantrum about Lall, Jagdeo then turned his attention to Ramjattan.
The Opposition Leader said that he thinks Ramjattan does not want to declare his assets and income. “So what do you do? You find a whipping horse.” Jagdeo then repeated comments made at a previous press conference.
Jagdeo said that he met with the President David Granger and pointed out that his Asset Recovery Unit noted that it would have difficulties tracking people’s assets outside of Guyana. “Why don’t we work together on getting a piece of legislation that will force every Member of Parliament to declare all that they own abroad,” he suggested.
Jagdeo recommended that this not be sent to the Integrity Commission “where it sits and nobody knows about it.”
Instead, Jagdeo recommended that statements be deposited at the Parliament “so anybody, a reporter, can go to Parliament Building and say ‘let me see what Jagdeo owns abroad.’ So if Jagdeo owns $10 abroad you will know and if Ramjattan has $1 abroad then you will know.”
Jagdeo said that this is to ensure that “Ramjattan’s dollar does not become $20 by the time he leaves office while his salary is 25 cents …I think Ramjattan currently owns substantially more assets abroad than I do.”
The only thing Jagdeo directly addressed was Ramjattan’s statement that Jagdeo is the richest politician in Guyana. But even to this, Jagdeo danced.
“The only way I can own billions of dollars is if Ramjattan give me some money from the sale of gun licences.”
Further to those ramblings, Jagdeo reiterated that he wants a huge penalty to fall upon those who make false declarations about their assets abroad “if they are found to own some asset that they didn’t declare then you can prosecute.”
The Opposition Leader said that there is a specific reason he wants this to be made public.
The reason given is that “if someone knows of an asset that an MP has that he did not declare, he or she can come forward…Why would Ramjattan want to oppose something of this nature?”
Jagdeo also recalled that he asked for an across the board tax declaration and make it available to the public “So you will see what a member has paid in taxes for years.”
Jagdeo said that the declared assets should then be compared to the declared taxable income.
The politician said that the people can then deduce that something is wrong when someone who has a certain income can afford certain assets.
“These thing are good for transparency,” said Jagdeo.
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