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The troubles of oil rich nations… In five years, former Nigerian Pres. stole US$6.7B from Treasury
…Ramson says Guyana’s fate may be similar
By Abena Rockcliffe-Campbell
Attorney-at-law, Charles Ramson
Over a five-year period—1993 to 1998—former Nigerian President, the late Sani Abacha reportedly stole over US$6.7B (£5B) from the Nigerian Treasury. In 2004, Abacha was listed as the fourth most corrupt leader in history. The money he stole was mainly proceeds from the country’s oil.
Abacha’s corrupt practices were highlighted yesterday by former People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Member of Parliament (MP), Charles Ramson. The lawyer brought that issue to the fore as he noted that Guyana is making little moves to prevent similar occurrences.
Ramson said that Abacha was able to steal that amount of money simply because Nigeria has weak institutions and the proper structural systems needed to safeguard the country’s wealth were not in place to prevent this theft.
Ramson said that Guyana’s fate can be similar to that of Nigeria. The Oil and Gas consultant noted that Guyana is less than two years away from first oil and the necessary institutions are still to be strengthened.
“Weak institutions fuel corruption. Guyana remains a haven for corrupt practices.”
The lawyer said that Guyanese need to be more aware of how corruption affects their future. “The individual action of a corrupt official may seem innocuous or harmless but the collective action of corrupt officials destroys countries.”
Ramson continued, “Every dollar not available for life saving drugs and medical treatment or citizen safety and security, because it has been taken by corrupt officials, represents a collective setback for a country.”
The politician said that there are countless certified stories of billions of dollars leaving oil producing countries and making their way into secret offshore accounts or filtered into other countries.
“Look at Sani Abacha. The money he stole was stored in other countries. When money is shipped out of your country it is then used to develop the foreign country.”
Ramson said that the APNU+AFC came to power mainly on an anti-corruption platform. “But other than seminars and conferences, there has been no credible systemic measure introduced that will tackle the plague of government corruption.”
The politician said that there are several examples of corruption continuing with the APNU+AFC Government.
Ramson said that there are several techniques available to government to aid in the minimization of corruption, but the government is choosing to ignore these.
“We can start with simple things even in the procurement system. The awarding of all Government contracts need to be open, fair and transparent. It can be streamed live online for all to see.
“Complaints of unfairness need to be dealt with by the Public Procurement Commission within a specified window of opportunity before the contract has been signed but after it has been awarded.”
He added, “All persons serving on public tender boards should make declarations to the Commission before their appointment and upon their termination of tenure and should not be appointed for consecutive periods. Each period should be a year.
“These are not new ideas but there is no decisive attempt for Guyana to fight government corruption. It is the government of the day which will get first access to the oil money and if measures are introduced, they will severely curtail certain preferred operations.”
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