April 22 2018
Dear Editor,
It was with great disappointment that I read (Guyana Times, April 18, 2018, p.15) about the Leader of the Opposition having declined an invitation extended to him by Dr. Clive Thomas, Head of the State Assets Recovery Agency (SARA), to participate in a “symbolic” walk against corruption on Friday 20th April 2018. Mr. Jagdeo views the walk as a “smokescreen” to detract from violations of the Constitution and describes the APNU/AFC coalition Government as “the most corrupt in the post-independent English-speaking Caribbean”. A recently published US State Department document entitled “International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, Volume II” however cites Government corruption under the watch of the PPP as a major facilitator of money laundering. With the transparent process that will lead to the appointment of a new Commissioner of Police currently under way, it is timely to remind readers that the top cop handpicked by the PPP administration had his US visa cancelled on the day he assumed that important office.
The theme of the walk is “Corruption is Everybody’s Business” – and so it should be – for the issue of corruption like the issue of racial cohesion in our country must surely be the business of all who have a stake in the betterment of Guyana for all Guyanese. Rather than adopt the constructive stance of a patriotic Opposition leader, Mr.Jagdeo has opted to exploit what he perceives as an opportunity to score some cheap partisan political points.
Instead of bleating to the press that the recent charges laid against Dr.Ashni Singh and Winston Brassington, former public officers, are “frivolous and manufactured” whilst he shelters behind the immunity afforded to him by the Burnham Constitution that his party so maligned whilst in opposition – yet retained until the end came in 2015 – Mr.Jagdeo should allow the courts to independently and properly determine the charges according to the due process of law.
It should serve the Leader of the Opposition well to remember that both the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) and the Inter-American Convention Against Corruption (IACAC) were ratified by the PPP in 2003 and 2000 respectively. The incumbent coalition Government is merely taking proactive steps in conformity with international Conventions and current worldwide anti-corruption sentiment – effectively running with the baton that the PPP Government took in hand but stood still on the track holding, whilst marking time as corruption in our country thrived in high and low places.
QC Old Boy