Govt. says Transparency International corruption report is measured by perception not facts

Feb 15, 2025 News

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Kaieteur News-The Government of Guyana in response to the 2024 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) published by Transparency International said the methodology employed to rank countries has limitations.

In a February 14, 2025 statement, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira, clarified that while corruption remains a concern in Guyana, she argued that the CPI is not an accurate measure of corruption.

She said, “At no time herein is there an insinuation that corruption is not a problem; rather, the objection is that non-empirical, non-scientific data cannot be the standard by which such a serious issue is measured by Transparency International or any other organization.”

The minister added, “The CPI is a perception-based index that aggregates views from 13 sources, provided by 12 institutions deemed appropriate by Transparency International.”

To this end, she noted that one of the institutions, the World Bank, includes a disclaimer that the ratings reflect staff judgement and not necessarily the views of the World Bank’s Board.

Kaieteur News reported that Guyana’s CPI score fell slightly from 40 points in 2023 to 39 in 2024, placing the country at 92 out of 180 nations.  The state of Guyana has been captured by the economic and political elites here, fostering misappropriation of resources, illicit enrichment and environmental crimes, the global coalition against corruption- Transparency International said on Tuesday.

“In Guyana, state capture by economic and political elites fosters misappropriation of resources, illicit enrichment and an environmental crime,” the Transparency International report said.

It added: “Although the country has created anti-corruption institutions and laws, transparency and law enforcement are very low, and attacks on dissenting voices, activists and journalists increasingly common,” the body stated in its report.

However, Minister Teixeira said in her statement that the rankings are influenced by various subjective factors.

She noted, “The CPI measures perceptions of corruption, not documented incidents.  It relies on subjective assessments from undisclosed individuals in each country who TI refers to as experts and businesspeople. One can agree that the perceptions of these individuals can be shaped by heightened public discourse, isolated incidents, personal and business biases, and sociological and political worldviews.”

Moreover, the minister stated that the local media often overlooks the progress Guyana has made in combating corruption. “It seems to have been completely missed by the media that Guyana is listed as a ‘Significant Improver’ over the past 10 years in the same CPI report,” she said.

Minister Teixeira also raised concerns over potential biases in the CPI’s funding structure, questioning whether there could be a conflict of interest between the countries that fund Transparency International and the rankings they produce.

“Since 2020, we have implemented a broad range of measures to recover from the period of electoral corruption and bolster our anti-corruption architecture…our continued progress reflects a serious commitment to transparency and good governance,” the minister further stated.

The Transparency International report on Guyana is significant, given widespread complaints of massive corruption in government and accusations that billion-dollar contracts are being handed out to friends and families of government officials. Several government ministers are also fingered in corruption schemes – some allegedly owning construction companies, hotels and other businesses and have assigned persons to front them.

The report also comes on the heels of a massive scandal of corrupt allocation of state lands, which has forced the resignation of the Chief Executive Officer of the Central Housing and Planning Authority, Sherwyn Greaves.

In June 2024, disgraced former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Labour, Mae Thomas resigned as a member of the People’s Progressive Party Central Committee after she was sanctioned by the United States Government for allegedly taking bribes to facilitate the award of government contracts, passports and gun licences to the Mohameds.

Thomas proceeded on leave pending an investigation. In September 2024, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo said that the PS remains on paid leave. This was the last update from the government.

(Govt. says Transparency International corruption report is measured by perception not facts)

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• corruption, CPI, Gail Teixeira, transparency international

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