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The need for accountability.
Dear Editor
The recent resignation of Mr. Asot Michael from his Ministerial post of Investment and Trade in Antigua appears linked to the arrest of businessman, Peter Virdee, who is reported to be a major donor for the ruling Conservative party of the UK.
Virdee, an investor in Barbuda, was to be extradited from the UK to Germany for corrupt business practices. However while Mr. Asot Michael resigned his Ministerial post he is still a Member of Parliament.
Former Attorney General Justice Simon asked for the Integrity Commission of Antigua to investigate. The chairman of the Commission has complained about its limitations stating that the Commission “lacked teeth”.
This Commission is in place for a longer period than the recently appointed commission in Guyana. An Integrity commission must be an action committee and be transparent in its activity as it seeks to set standards for accountability by politicians in office and out of office.
The recent case of the former PM of Malaysia is appalling. Boxes of money were discovered in a luxury apartment of Nazir Razak who is reported to have siphoned millions from an Investment fund. It is felt that many politicians are corruptible. This is proven correct in many countries which have stronger internal systems than Guyana.
The perception is from observing that after obtaining political ruling positions there is a great display of wealth. It seems that the frantic behaviour for winning an election is not for the opportunity to serve selflessly but for personal gain. Good social deeds are done in a broad umbrella of money making, enrichment and other greedy behaviour.
For example, the hastily constructed salary rise for Government Ministers is far out of synch with the national average wage. This appears to have been done without any parity valuation. It puts the Guyana Government on par with the wealthiest nations while our average national salary ranking is extremely low.
There must be an anti-bribery Act as exists in the UK to stop the bribes which appear to be the major manner by which persons are corrupted. Stopping corruption in Government office must be a priority for the Integrity Commission. Its actions must be transparent and public. It must act on the concerns about the possibility of manipulation of Guyana’s wealth by local and foreign corporations.
According to a former US ambassador there needs to be disclosure legislation that is not only on the books but actively enforced across the board for all public office holders at all levels. When a mismatch exists between the material possessions of a politician and salary there is cause for investigation by the GRA. The penalty for corruption in office should be extremely severe to discourage MPs from using the office of the people for their personal gain.
The GRA should be involved in examining the reason for the massive acquisition of wealth during political tenure. I believe that the actions under leadership of the current head of the GRA are very positive. It is good that systems of protection exist and much credit must be given to the former Government and current Government for the setting up of these protection institutions.
However there must also be an objective assessment that the actions of these bodies like SOCU are objective, free from vindictiveness, free from corruption, free from corruptibility, free from friendships and open to public scrutiny.
Politicians cannot seek privacy when they owe their positions in Parliament to the public vote of confidence. Hopefully our Integrity Commission has “teeth” and will follow up concerns about politicians, functional authorities and others in public office who are implicated in actions which appear suspicious.
Dr. Davendra Anand Sharma
Frigate Bay
St. Kitts & Nevis
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