Government officials should not use personal emails to transact state businesses - Charles Ramson Jr.

Government officials should not use personal emails to transact state businesses – Charles Ramson Jr.

Jan 21, 2020 News

Attorney-at-law Charles Ramson Jr. is of the opinion that Government officials should not use their personal email accounts to transact business on the behalf of Guyana.

Attorney-at-law Charles Ramson

Ramson said he has no knowledge of Guyana’s leaders using their personal emails to transact state businesses, especially when it comes to Guyana’s Oil and Gas Industry.
But the evidence presented by the Kaieteur News and foreign media entities about corruption being discovered through leaked emails and documents in foreign countries is startling.
The lawyer said the evidence is sufficient enough to prompt the relevant authorities to draft a legislation to prevent such a practice in Guyana for the sake of transparency in the oil industry.
Ramson said he is not aware if there is any law in Guyana’s Constitution that prohibits Government officials from doing so.
Ramson said that the “use of personal emails by Government officials for transaction of state business is a sinister act to rob their country”.
He added that his political Party, the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) had already included in its manifesto that all non-disclosure of public documents and contracts will be criminalised.
He continued that with these compelling evidence the PPP will now move to look at policies of other countries preventing its government officials from using their personal email accounts in such a sinister manner.
Ramson and his party were convinced that such legislation is very much important after they learnt that Nigeria was able to recover US$1.1B from the sale of an oil block.
Transparency Advocates of Nigeria were determined to recover their nation’s wealth that is deemed lost because of grand corruption among top Government officials.
In one of the corruption cases, advocates were able to obtain a leaked email between high ranking Government officials and Oil majors Shell ´and ENI (Italian Oil Company).
The email revealed that Former Nigerian Oil Minister, Dan Etete, had arranged for $US1.1B to be transferred to his personal account for sale of his country’s OPL 245 oil block.
Recently, a shocking BBC report revealed that Africa’s richest woman, Isabel dos Santos “ripped off her country of its Oil Wealth”.
Investigators discovered Isabela’s wrongdoing because of a leaked document (private email).
Commentators who are disgusted about the “Lopsided Contract” Guyana received from Exxon for its lucrative Stabroek Block, wants Government officials to make their correspondence email with oil companies, public.