Fully functioning Integrity Commission by year end

Aug 14, 2016 News

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– Work ongoing to tighten loopholes – says Pres. Granger

By Jarryl Bryan

It has been over one year since the coalition took office and the Integrity Commission is still without a Chairman and Commissioners. However, President David Granger has given a commitment for a functional Commission

by this year end.
He made this commitment during the weekly televised programme ‘The Public Interest’. According to Granger, amendments to the legislation to strengthen the Commission will be brought before the National Assembly after it comes out of recess in October.
Granger made it clear that the system they inherited from the previous administration would not work. According to the President, the commission functioned like a “post office”, whereby officials would submit their returns and no action would be taken.
“We want a properly functioning Commission,” he said. “Right now, what we inherited from the previous administration is unworkable. And you can see the attempts the previous administration made, appointing chairpersons, it was poorly funded and administered and the results are a dysfunctional organisation.”
According to Granger, there was a perception that the previous administration was simply using the integrity commission for nefarious purposes. Rather than preventing corruption, Granger stated that the commission was either being used for political purposes or not being used at all.
“But we are looking at tightening the legislation to make sure that persons who may have committed illegal acts are actually prosecuted,” he said. “Right now it does not happen. So we are working on the legislation, it will be brought to cabinet and I expect that before the end of this year there will be a functioning integrity commission.”
“We are going to create functional laws, a functional organisation structure and I expect by the end of this year, when parliament resumes in October, we’ll be able to bring that legislation before the National Assembly. But (it) has to be corrected. We cannot go into it with what we had before.”
Granger also clarified any misconceptions about how the Integrity Commission would operate with other agencies that might guard against malfeasance in high office. According to Granger, there was no risk of the commission’s functions overlapping with those of the Special Organized Crime Unit (SOCU), since SOCU’s mandate includes private citizens.

Currently there is an Integrity Commission in place. It is, however, functioning without a Chairman and the requisite Commissioners. These officials were not appointed under President Donald Ramotar and under President Granger they are yet to be appointed. At present, Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, who took over the Governance portfolio, is spearheading efforts to improve the commission.
Last year, Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, had stated that a review of the commission’s mandate was underway by the coalition government. He had asserted that this was to see how to give it powers to not only take statements, but also investigate the truthfulness of the declarations.
Under the laws, public officers including the President, Permanent Secretaries, Director of Public Prosecutions, Auditor General, Commissioner of Police, Army Chief-of-Staff, Heads of the Services Commissions, Foreign Affairs officials, Judges, Magistrates and Department Heads are required to declare their assets.
Also required to submit declaration forms of their earnings and gifts received are Regional Executive Officers, the Chief Elections Officer, Mayors, Chairpersons and Chief Executive Officers of state companies, Registrars of Lands and the Commissioner of the Guyana Revenue Authority, along with Presidential Advisors, and Heads of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission and Guyana Forestry Commission.
According to the Integrity Commission Act, Chapter 19:12; public officials must report to the commission any gift received that is worth more than $10,000. That report must include the name and address of the donor, the description and approximate value of the gift and the official’s opinion on whether the gift is personal or a state gift.
The commission can determine whether the official can retain the gift or deliver the gift to the Minister of Finance. Penalties for non-compliance with this section of the Act relating to gifts include a fine equivalent to or more than the value of the gift and imprisonment for three months.
A Code of Conduct is also being formulated, which according to Nagamootoo, will be merged with the Integrity Act. Included in the code are provisions that public officials should desist from accepting lavish or frequent entertainment from persons with whom government may have had official business.
This grouping includes suppliers and contractors, or recipients of resources or job assignments from the state.
Having these accountability measures in place will be a crucial test for the coalition, as having public officials held accountable for their conduct had been one of A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change’s campaign promises.

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