Even as the latest 'Corruption Perception Index' released by Transparency International (TI) rates Guyana poorly questions continue to surround the methodology used and that fact that it may influence the actual perception of corruption because of the media attention the report receives.
Dr. Elaine Byrne, a columnist with the Sunday Independent and the Irish corruption consultant with the European Commission, recently wrote that "perception-based corruption indexes may influence the actual perception of corruption because of the media attention they receive, thus raising the possibilities that the indexes influence the very same perceptions on which they are based. This circularity reinforces perceptions of corruption, creating a vicious cycle between perception and fact. Therefore, the perception of corruption does not always reflect the reality or complexity of the actual level or experience of corruption within a country".
Byrne noted that "there is growing concern among anti-corruption agencies and the international community that perception-based indexes are not accurate measures. The best perception-based surveys do not always account for indirect effects of subjective factors, and their margins of error are large when compared with actual corruption (Bertrand and Mullainathan 2001)".
"A 2006 report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development notes that at least one donor stopped funding a country because of its standing in the CPI (Arndt and Oman 2006, p. 48). That same report also notes that the dominance of perception indexes may be contributing to the emergence of a “corruption trap.” As development aid is increasingly made conditional on the implementation of reforms, those countries with the least resources to implement “good governance” stand to suffer most from the withdrawal of precisely the support they need to stand any realistic chance of tackling corruption. In this way, perception-based indexes can become entirely counterproductive".
She went on that "such indexes do not reveal the real context of a situation, and may even be counterproductive to a nation’s efforts to develop its economy and improve its citizens’ standards of living. An inverse effect may occur under which countries are discouraged from undertaking serious anti-corruption measures because their attempts at reform are neither revealed nor regarded as successful by an improved score in the CPI".
TI international relies on information garnered by a local transparency body which the government of Guyana objected to citing its population of persons critical of its management of the country as well as affiliated to the two opposition political parties. Among those are Christopher Ram, Enrico Woolford and Keith Parks. Ram is the legal counsel of the Transparency International Guyana and also had a hand in writing the opposition PNC/R 1G manifesto for the 2006 elections. He recently represented the Alliance for Change(AFC) at during a segment of the NCN Corruption Debates.
Woolford, like Adam Harris of the Kaieteur News, functioned as a senior information disseminator under the illegitimate PNC Government of the post 1992 era and he operates a news programme that's noted for its sarcastic, anti government coverage. Parks is closely affiliated to a political party, through family relations. His son in law, Mr. Mike Singh, is the opposition PNCR international relations liaison. Mr. Parks brought Mr. Singh to have a meeting with the Guyana Chapter only recently.
