Don’t talk to Rohee about corruption
The public perception of corruption is not something imagined. Less than a fortnight ago, the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry found that public corruption and the apparent failure on the part of the Government to do more to curb it were issues affecting the business community.
The findings were contained in the 2014 attitudinal survey, the third such survey conducted by the Chamber. A whopping seventy per cent of the businesses surveyed concluded that there was rampant corruption. A handful of the businesses stated that the incidence of corruption was low. And as is the case of all surveys, there were those who refrained from commenting for fear that their views would lead to victimization from public sources.
In their letters to the press, people across the political divide have been stating incidences of corruption. Some of the complainants were people visiting home from overseas. They found that in almost every Government department they were expected to pay a fee to access the services they desired.
On Tuesday, Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee expressed a hatred for the term ‘rampant corruption’. He said that he would prefer simple corruption to the exclusion of any adjective. And one can readily understand his position. As a serving Minister of Government it would not do well for him to admit that corruption is rampant during the tenure of his administration.
There were contradictions in his position, though. While denying that corruption was widespread, he himself said that he was forced to set up a website to allow people to forward complaints about the bribes they were forced to pay. Had Rohee’s initial position on corruption been allowed to prevail then one would have been ready to query the need for the website, “I Paid a Bribe”.
But by his own admission he was able to proclaim the success of the website and according to him, success is measured by the number of hits on the site. There were significant hits almost daily.
But it is not only the police, who are corrupt, and again, not every policeman is corrupt, there are certain senior Government officials whose rise to wealth has caused raised eyebrows and numerous questions. There have been people who could be considered nothing but ordinary people until they were appointed to Government office.
These people may not have actually stolen from the public treasury but surely they accepted the offerings of those members of society who wanted their services. For example, there must be very few people who have not heard that the Brazilians shell out bundles of cash to secure a work permit. The word is that someone inside the Ministry of Home Affairs is the grand collector.
The Chinese are also said to be prepared to pay hefty bribes to any party in Guyana to help them get going. And the Chinese have come with deep pockets.
We then come to the issue of Ministers of Government who are now displaying immense wealth. On Tuesday Rohee refused to discuss the seeming rise from rags to riches on the part of some of his colleagues. These may all be honourable people who either now revel in old money or who are enjoying the fruits of investment in many sectors.
It is not that Guyana does not offer many investment opportunities but for the working man, he must have vast sums of money to capitalize on these opportunities. Those who now invest in places like the gold mining industry are people who made tons of money elsewhere and are now using some of that money to fuel the investment.
A point of reference is former President Bharrat Jagdeo. He appears to be rich beyond his wildest dreams. He lives in a fashionable and expensive duplex, has set up a foundation, reportedly owns shares in some of the businesses operated by his friends and defies many to hold a candle to him.
Rohee insists that Jagdeo’s wealth most likely came from his savings during the few years he worked and lived with his parents. If that is so, he must be one of the very few who could transform their savings from their salaries to such immense proportions.
