APNU/AFC Govt failed to enforce anti-corruption laws – US State Department 2020 Investment Climate report
The US Department of State has cited the lack of enforcement of anti-corruption laws under the previous A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change (APNU/AFC) Administration.
In its 2020 Investment Climate report that was published recently, the State Department noted that perceptions of corruption persist in Guyana. It pointed to the Transparency International’s 2019 report, which ranked Guyana 85 out of 180 countries for perceptions of corruption, advancing 8 spots in comparison to 2018.
According to the State Department, corruption and a weak judicial system are among Guyana’s major shortcomings.
In fact, the report outlined that despite there being laws that provide for criminal penalties for corruption by officials, the Government “generally does not enforce the law effectively or uniformly.”
Among the relevant laws enacted that the State Department referred to are the Integrity Commission Act, State Assets Recovery Act, and the Audit Act.
“Officials appear to engage in corrupt practices at times with impunity… Widespread concerns remain about inefficiencies and corruption regarding the awarding of contracts, particularly with respect to concerns of collusion and non-transparency,” the report outlined.
It was further pointed out that several media outlets reported on Government corruption in recent years and it remains a significant public concern.
“Media and civil society organizations continued to criticize the government for being slow to prosecute corruption cases. Although the government passed legislation in 1997 that requires public officials to disclose their assets to an Integrity Commission prior to assuming office, media reports suggest that a significant section of public officials did not honor this requirement in 2019,” the State Department noted.
After several extensions of the deadline by which public officials were expected to submit their declarations of assets, the Integrity Commission was forced to publish the names of those delinquent officials. In a publication back in February 2020, 74 names of public officials were published including seven Ministers of the then caretaker David Granger-led Government.
Moreover, the 2020 Investment Climate report also referred to the Auditor General’s annual report in which he noted continuous disregard for the procedures, rules, and the laws that govern the public procurement system. There were reports on overpayments of contracts and procurement breaches, the State Department report cited.
In his 2018 Report tabled in the National Assembly in October 2019, Auditor General Deodat Sharma flagged the APNU/AFC Administration for overpaying some $166 million of taxpayers’ dollars on contracts. According to the report, a number of Ministries were guilty of this practice.
In some instances, various Ministries and departments overpaid contractors as much as $92.3 million. The Public Infrastructure Ministry, the AG report noted, accounted for $63.7 million, but a whopping $73.7 million was overpaid by regional administrations. Regions Two, Eight, Nine and 10 were responsible for 70 per cent of this sum.
The AG also experienced some difficulties in presenting his audit, as some $800 million in payment vouchers were not presented to his auditors. The report stated that this sum is equivalent to 582 vouchers.
The Ministries of the Presidency and Natural Resources were among the defaulters. The AG noted that as a result, it could not be ascertained whether the money was used for the intended purposes.
In addition, the Auditor General had also stumbled upon a number of cases during 2018, where Government Ministries and agencies would have collected millions of dollars’ worth of gifts from various sources, but then failed to properly account for them.
AG Sharma in his report had noted that miscellaneous receipts totalling $2.8 billion were understated; though by an undetermined amount.
The AG noted that despite evidence of the Government receiving numerous gifts throughout 2018, there was no evidence of adherence to the procedures set out in the law to ensure transparency and accountability.
In addition, AG Sharma had also bemoaned the fact that every year his office audits public financial records, unearths corruption and makes recommendations so that Government can tighten up the system but this is never done.
According to 2018 AG report, a mere 24 per cent of the 454 recommendations made in 2017 were implemented by the Government. AG Sharma had expressed concern over what he called the lack of action towards the implementation of the recommendations.
According to him, it means that 76 per cent of his office’s recommendations were not fully implemented. Sharma noted that this was a yearly occurrence.
“In many instances, recommendations are repeated each year without appropriate action and as a result, weaknesses and issues that impacted negatively on Government’s governance and accountability mechanisms continue to occur,” the report detailed.
