Latest update January 17th, 2025 6:30 AM
Opposition to bring criminal charges against government officials
…for flouting Integrity Commission Act
Bharrat Jagdeo said that the opposition party will be brining private criminal charges against
Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo
government officials and Members of Parliament (MP) who have failed to comply with the Integrity Commission Act.
Jagdeo said that his party has been clamoring for MPs to release their tax record but this has been rejected by the current administration for the past 10 years. He surmised that this move is to cover up extensive tax evasion by many Government officials.
“We believe that there is serious tax evasion by many of these individuals.”
He said that he is fearful that the country may never know what assets many Government officials own. The former President expressed his dismay at MPs who have failed to release their tax records.
Jagdeo said that it smacks at hypocrisy since it’s this administration who always talks about eradicating corruption; but yet there are unwilling to produce these records.
Jagdeo said that he has learnt that the integrity Commission got notice to move and the four staff were sent home. “This development is strange and very worrying and does not bode well for transparency.”
He is fearful that the records will be tampered with or destroyed; and this will make prosecution very difficult when these private charges are brought.
Jagdeo said that it is important that the government explain what will happen to those documents that were kept at that commission and who will be responsible for them. He said that if the current trends are to carry forward, he suspects that the records will fall under the remit of the Ministry of the Presidency.
He said that the government should lead by example and produce those records if they have nothing to hide. Further, he noted that the government has no interest in adhering to this request as is stipulated in the Integrity Commission Act.
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