I happened to read two letters published recently in the daily newspapers that caught my attention. The first one was published under the caption: “Only $1,000M was requested for GPL’s operations and the National Assembly approved that; the warning of a tariff increase is nothing but scare tactics,” written by Christopher Ram and published in the April 24 edition of the Stabroek News. The second letter was published in the April 24 edition of the Kaieteur News under the caption: “Christopher Ram should know that sometimes he would be confronted and exposed,” a response by GPL to his letter.

Reading Mr. Christopher Rams’s letter, I couldn’t help feeling that something was amiss. It was only when I read GPL’s response to his letter that I understood. Mr. Christopher Ram’s company, Ram and McRae, were the auditors of GPL for a whole six years.  This means that Mr. Christopher Ram would have had access to GPL’s privileged and confidential information for six years.  I find it alarming that both as an accountant and a lawyer, who presents himself to the Guyanese public as a professional of the highest calibre of moral and ethical standing, would choose to use privileged information he had access to while fulfilling his professional duty to a client, for which he was paid no small amount, for selfish and personal political ends.   This is nothing less than a display of a gross violation and disregard for established professional, ethical standards.  The fact that he twisted and turned outright lies and half truths to mislead the public about an entity which he had audited for six years speaks volumes about his professional ethics and moral standing.   I am therefore calling on the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Guyana and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) to publicly denounce and sanction Mr. Christopher Ram’s unethical, unprofessional behaviour. Mr. Ram should know, both as an accountant and a lawyer,that it is unethical and unprofessional behaviour for him to publicly comment on his former client using the privileged information that he had access to while fulfilling his professional duties. Mr. Christopher Ram, now that you have publicly displayed less than acceptable professional ethics, your clients, both present and former, must be left wondering. It is my hope that he will be appropriately sanctioned by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Guyana and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW).