CHAIRMAN of the Private Sector Commission (PSC), Ramesh Persaud, was yesterday quoted a Kaieteur News article, headlined ‘Stop attacking citizens who identify corruption,’ as saying “Stop the attacks, character assassination and vilification of citizens who have identified corruption as a serious problem that needs urgent and radical state intervention to stem its disastrous consequences for economic development.”However, Persaud took the popular social media site, Facebook, to make it clear that he never said those words to the embattled daily’s reporter.
In actuality, the comments attributed to him were actually part of a call from Transparency Institute Guyana Inc. (TIGI), following the release of the 2014 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) report from Transparency International (TI).

NOT A PERFECT MEASURE
Persaud, in fact, stated that the CPI is “not a perfect measure” of the actual level of corruption, but its indicator that can be useful in addressing a problem that has not been denied as a challenge by the current administration.
Guyana is ranked at 124, with a rating of 30, in the report. Last year, Guyana ranked 27, one place up from the 28th spot in 2012. This year’s index includes 175 countries and territories.
The PSC Chairman said: “It is known that corruption is present in all societies, but some societies take more actions than others by putting in place the necessary laws and institutional framework to minimise and eliminate the scourge of corruption. Corruption in public sector cannot exist without the support of members in the business community or the general public.”
On that note, the PSC head called on private companies that engage in these “immoral practices” to hold themselves to a higher standard and desist from spreading this “cancer” on the Guyanese society.
He also stressed that effective governance mechanisms to adequately fight corruption in Guyana contributes to the public opinion and on that note Persaud stated the Commission’s support for TIGI’s detailed call for 11 specific actions to be taken by the Government.

LOCAL EFFORTS
Guyana has made efforts locally to address the issue of corruption, despite the ranking, one whose credibility has been questioned.
The questions are in light of Transparency International’s admission with regard to its methodology in compiling the report have not served it well in debunking the mounting criticisms, at both regional and international levels, which continue to be laid at its doorstep.
Guyana signed the Inter-American Convention against Corruption in 1996 and ratified it in 2000. As recent as June 16, 2011, Guyana had designated the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as its central authority to deal with matters related to the Inter-American Convention against Corruption.
Under its obligation, Guyana had its first review in 2006, second in 2008, and third in 2011. In September 2011, when the third- round review of all the countries was completed, the committee decided that the fourth round will include visits to countries, as well as a follow-up on the implementation of the recommendations that were made during the first- cycle review in 2006.
Guyana also signed on to the United Nations Convention against Corruption in 2003 and ratified it in 2008.
The UN convention addressed areas similar to that of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption. These include prevention, criminalisation, international cooperation and asset recovery.
By becoming party to the two anti-corruption conventions, the country has undertaken obligations and expectations for the enactment of the standards and rules that are central to both conventions.