A CODE OF CONDUCT FOR ALL
November 9, 2015 | By KNews | Filed Under Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom, Source
A Code of Conduct for Ministers and for public officials is an important political development in the country. This Code of Conduct has been long in coming
When the corruption and allegations of sexual improprieties were leveled against the Forbes Burnham administration in the 1970’s, the then PNC party promised a Code of Conduct for Ministers.
It never materialized because Burnham knew how difficult it would have been to keep to the letter and spirit of any Code of Conduct given the abuses that were taking place in the country.
A number of government Ministers under the PPP found themselves in the public glare after allegations were leveled against them. Among these allegations were excessive rum-drinking, lewd public language, threatening phone calls, abuse of power, and sexual misconduct.
The public were disgusted at some of the allegations being made and they hoped that when a new government emerged that at least the new Ministers would be held to a higher standard. It is good that this is being done.
The Code of Conduct is therefore a positive development. It should win support among the people but for this to happen certain things must be in place.
Firstly, the code cannot be ambiguous. The present draft Code must be made more precise. The notion of “gifts” for example must be precisely defined.
Gifts can take many forms. It need not be a physical object of cash. It can be given in services; it can involve other intangibles.
Secondly, no Code of Conduct should prohibit actions that are legal. The Code speaks about limiting gambling. Gambling should not be significant.
But what if a Minister goes into a casino and begins to play some of the games and ends up with a major win.
Should the Minister be denied those earnings? Playing the Lotto in Guyana is also legal. What if a public official buys a $100 ticket and hits a massive jackpot. Would that be deemed prohibited behavior under the Code?
Thirdly, the Code of Conduct should not just address the issue of corruption. It should also aim at appropriate behaviour.
It should speak to the issue of sexual and other relations between public officials and their staff. It should speak to personal morality.
For example, how many concubines or love affairs is a Minister allowed? It is one thing to try to discourage Ministers receiving gifts above $10,000 but what about if a Minister has a whole set of “sweet women”? Is that appropriate?
The Code must also indicate the standards of public morality and probity that is expected of Ministers and public officials. Public officials should not for example be drinking during working hours and even after working hours they should not be imbibing alcohol and be seen in certain places in the work uniforms.
Fourthly, the Code must be reasonable. This issue of $10,000 gifts is a problem. Christmas in around the corner and sometimes some persons out of courtesy, not out of any ulterior motive, will want to give someone a bottle of whiskey.
The cheapest bottle of whisky will cost more than $10,000? So what should the public official do, refuse the bottle of whiskey and in the process insult the person giving him the gift simply because the Code requires that gifts above $10,000 be declared to the Integrity Commission?
The sum of $10,000 for gifts in unreasonable. The objective should be to discourage gifts aimed at encouraging favours, not gifts given out of kindness.
The proposed Code of Conduct therefore needs more work before it is adopted.
A Code of Conduct does not need be legally enforceable. To achieve that effect would be to turn it from a Code into a law. A Code of Conduct relies on its moral force and is always more powerful than that for which it is given credit.
The Code of Conduct being proposed by the government is a positive but it needs to move beyond its narrow confines and cover a far wider range of issues including sexual harassment and public morality and conduct of public officials and Ministers of the government.
No one should be above the Code. All should be subject to it, including the President.