Integrity Commission, other Key Agencies aiding breakdown of Govt. accountability - TIGI Head

Integrity Commission, other Key Agencies aiding breakdown of Govt. accountability – TIGI Head

Jan 04, 2023 News

Kaieteur News – The Integrity Commission is among a group of key Constitutional Mechanisms created to help the Government strike a balance between accountability and good governance.

However, a non- functioning Integrity Commission can aid with the breakdown of democracy and good governance. This is the perspective of President of the Transparency Institute of Guyana Inc. (TIGI), Fred Collins.

In an invited comment, Collins pointed to the status of Guyana’s Integrity Commission which he noted has been not been functioning as it should.

President of TIGI, Fred Collins

“The last thing I read about the Integrity Commission is that it is not functioning as it should because it is understaffed. But if those in charge of the Commission are serious about their work, they would find a way to do their work even if it is on a lottery basis and they will get some work done rather than none at all,” Collins told Kaieteur News.

The TIGI President said, “Politicians seem to think democracy is elections but is about the functioning of every single mechanism and constitutionally mandated to help guard against corruption and assist with transparency and good governance. The EPA, for example an very important agency, is being used as a rubber stamp for whatever the Government says… The Government is only interested in votes when that time is passed, they are very comfortable with having these Key Agencies understaffed and unsupported because it does not benefit them.”

Collins asserted that if Guyana is to experience ‘real democracy’ then “the Politicians should be able to work and support these Agencies so as to make them function adequately.”

Collins comments follow statements made by former Auditor General of Guyana, Anand Goolsaran.

Goolsaran in his January 3, 2022 Edition of the Stabroek News, pointed to the lax approach of the Integrity Commission.

Among other things, the former Auditor General noted that the Integrity Commission needs to get its act going, especially as regards: arranging for the prosecution of Public Officials who have failed to submit their financial declarations, investigating apparent mismatch between declarations and ownership of assets (inclusive of beneficial ownership), as well as observable lifestyles, conflicts of interest, and violations of the Code of Conduct.

The Integrity Commission was established to ensure that persons in public life maintain high standards of integrity in the performance of their public functions. This assists in the improvement of the standards of good governance, transparency, and accountability in government.

The Integrity Commission is duty bound to receive and verify the accuracy of declarations of financial affairs from public officials.

Integrity Commission Act states that, anyone who fails to make a declaration without reasonable cause shall be liable, on summary conviction, to a fine of $25,000 and to imprisonment for a term of not less than six months nor more than one year.

Section 2, Chapter 22 states specifically, “Any person who—(a) (i) fails, without reasonable cause, to file with the Commission or the President, as the case may be, a declaration which he is required to file in accordance with the provisions of this Act; or (ii)knowingly files with the Commission or the President a declaration that is not complete or is false in any material particular; or (b) fails, without reasonable cause, to comply with a request made under section 18 or 21 (2) by the Commission, the President or a Tribunal, within the time specified there for by the Commission, the President or the Tribunal, as the case may be, or gives incomplete or false information pursuant to the request.”

However after it was reconstituted last year, the Commission published a notice in the daily newspapers calling on Public Officials to declare their assets by the end of the year.

However, as of July, 2022, the Commission stated that it had only five declarations from a total 1232 officials who were scheduled to submit their records.