US Government developments

Jun 19, 2024 Editorial

Kaieteur News – Whatever its form, whomever is involved, this publication is against corruption. There are no allies, there are no friends, in the fight against corruption that is crippling Guyana.

The US Government, through its Treasury Department, has issued a blistering denunciation against three Guyanese relative to tax evasion, gold smuggling, and other violations. According to American officials, it has been a long running investigation about corruption in Guyana, and it has a ‘mountain of evidence.’ Taking all this as context, there are several things that we wish to put on the record.

It is imperative that the Government of Guyana responds with speed and authority. If the government is serious about corruption in Guyana, then it should leave no stone unturned in its quest to right wrongs. Also, the government and its leading spokespeople must be about tightening the screws, closing off loopholes, and distancing itself from dealing with citizens and their gifts, both of which could be tainted. The first duty of a government is to its citizens, then an honest and reliable record, and last a leadership platform and program that is convincing because both are credible. Government leaders must work hard at developing trust, not the blind kind that is such an effortless aspect of devoted partisanship.

Leaders have a long way to go in fostering trust with honest, hardworking Guyanese, who know when they are being taken for granted, when their leadership has gone astray.

When political leadership, both in the government and opposition, are about the best of ethical standards, then there is no call for any American government department or agency to do law enforcement work for this country. The standards would have in place and implemented, as a matter of routine. Political leaders do not have to dance around questions then. Nor do they have to seek refuge in abuse and other tactics intended to intimidate into silence and acquiescence. Most Guyanese are against runaway corruption because when the numbers are counted, they are the people that pay the bitter prices repeatedly. Almost all Guyanese with a conscience, those who want to be examples for their children, want a government that is clean, and leaders that are untarnished. We are still struggling to find those among the people in charge, because they can be embraced for the straightness of their governance. Straightness from leaders has its own power, stands on its own legs, and doesn’t have to yield to secrecies and the political chicanery that is now the norm. Americans would not have to do our anticorruption work for us, for our institutions would represent that and deliver it, regardless of who is involved, once they breach the law.

In this cobwebbed development from America, the Government of Guyana must do everything to ensure that truth and justice are pursued, wherever such roads lead. Should there be any slippage (or ulterior considerations) in the current situation, then all that would happen is that the usual games continue like before. Nothing is new, nothing is changed, and the burdens on Guyanese simply multiply. A listless and critical set of people is the consequence, with all the negatives gaining new life, and Guyana going nowhere.

Having said this, the Guyanese identified by the US government are due their right to the presumption of innocence, and every right to what is fair. They have a right to defend themselves with vigor and be given the fullest freedom to state their case. Much has been dumped on their heads, and they owe it to those who believe in them to clear the air, as well as their names. In the social inferno that has erupted since the news came out of the US Department of the Treasury, those who were once on their side may have taken leave. That is for them to manage, but Guyanese need to see this matter resolved in the interests of their own wellbeing. It must always, however, be with an eye to the two men and a woman not being made the subject of any witch hunts. Those who hold the reins of government must ensure that the full truth is pursued, and that justice remains blindfolded, while its scales stay balanced.

corruption, Editorial, Treasury Department, US Government

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