TIGI stresses bipartisan cooperation to tackle corruption

Jun 24, 2024 News

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– says recent sanctions on Mohameds, Mae Thomas tip of the iceberg

In the wake of the recent US Treasury Department sanctions on the Mohamed family and government official, Mae Thomas, Mike Singh, the President of the Transparency Institute of Guyana Incorporated has called on the government, opposition and other political actors to put their own egos and agendas aside and collaborate to rid the nation of the widespread corruption that plagues it.

Kaieteur News – Allegedly, the Mohameds under declared their gold exports in order to avoid paying about USD $50M in taxes to Guyana, and, according to the US Department of the Treasury press release, “to conceal their illegal activity and operate with impunity, Azruddin and Mohamed’s Enterprise have engaged in extensive bribery schemes involving government officials in Guyana.”

These recent developments have inspired questions and concerns about corruption in the government and its agencies, the relationship and level of trust between the United States’ and Guyana’s governments, and many others.

Former Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman, recently said in a press release that the US agents that had informed him and his ministry of a gold smuggling racket in 2015, very early in the coalition government’s term, had only then been authorized to share the information “because in the past, there were serious concerns about confidences being kept and sensitive investigations being compromised by government of Guyana officials.”

In a response to Trotman, the Ministry of Natural Resources criticized the APNU/AFC coalition government’s handling of the gold smuggling issue and questioned his claims that it launched its own anti-smuggling operation after being briefed by US law enforcement agents. “If, indeed, these former senior government officials were made aware of the severity of the issue, then they should be held accountable,” the ministry said in its statement.  Responding to Trotman’s accusation that the current administration shut down the abovementioned operation days after taking office, the ministry said, “For the public record, no such operations/investigation were discovered at the Office of the President in August 2020 and logically there was no “shut down” of any such operation within five days of the Government taking office three and a half years ago, or at all.”

Asked to weigh in on the sanction against t6he Mohameds, the TIGI President said: “what has happened with the Mohameds maybe is the tip of the iceberg, and it’s not them alone, there are many bad actors. So it’s just that they [the Mohameds] are exposed, they’re being made the sacrificial lamb for one reason or the other, but it’s not them alone, it’s a whole society of rottenness, and to fix that problem, they [the political class] have to find the political will to do the right thing, not some of the time, but all of the time. Guyana is not the exclusive domain of the PNC or the PPP or the AFC, it’s for all Guyanese, and unless we can, as I have said before, leave the past behind, join ranks and work together… I’ll echo the sentiments of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who said, “We must all learn to live and work together, or suffer together and perish as fools.”

Change in political culture

Singh underscored the necessity of a change in Guyana’s political culture if the nation is to rid itself of the corruption that has plagued it for some decades. There must be drastic improvement in terms of accountability, the rule of law, transparency and good governance. “These are the basic parameters for disciplined approach to fiscal responsibility, national development, and development must be inclusive to all,” he said.

It is worth noting that the US Treasury Department’s press release said “to conceal their illegal activity and operate with impunity, Azruddin and Mohamed’s Enterprise have engaged in extensive bribery schemes involving government officials in Guyana.”  The report proceeded to say that Thomas is “one such official,” which implies that the corruption runs deeper than just the former Permanent Secretary of the Home Affairs (during the investigation period) and Labour ministries. Mae is also a former member of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic Central Committee. Due to this, many Guyanese fear that more sanctions could be on the way.

On this Singh said, “I will tell you; all things are possible. I don’t have any finite proof if they [the United States government] are going to implement sanctions against any other members of the regime but all things are possible, you have to follow the smoking gun, you have to connect the dots, and I think they’re able to connect the dots. I don’t think people act in isolation; they could act in isolation but I don’t know what political powers she [Mae Thomas] had; I don’t know what administrative powers she had to act… we have to stay tuned. I think that this is just the tip of the iceberg, in my humble opinion and there could be many more [sanctions] to come but who, when, where, why, what, I don’t know. I’m scanning the headlines like the average Guyanese.”

There is widespread concern about the effects that the sanctions could have on Guyana’s economic interests, considering that the Mohameds are prominent figures in the Guyanese business arena, and that the nation’s development hinges somewhat on foreign investment. “It’s not a positive development for the country or its investment framework, you know if someone wants to invest and they do their due diligence in Guyana, they’ll say ‘what the hell is happening in here’,” said Singh. Nevertheless, Guyanese should certainly keep their eyes and ears focused on this matter, as it will undoubtedly have major ripple effects both in Guyana and internationally.

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• APNU-AFC, Government, Guyana, President, Progressive Party, TIGI

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