This, of course, is not correct. While it is true that a person’s perception can reflect reality, perception can be manipulated and be as different from reality as night from day.

Today, there are many think tanks and media personnel who have become specialists in creating perceptions, which are different from reality.
In Guyana, this method to engineer perception was used successfully to distort reality in our country.

Over the last ten years or so, a section of the media, in alliance with the then political opposition, worked hard to create the impression that Guyana’s government was practicing poor governance and corruption, and was, therefore, doing nothing about it.
Unfortunately, many persons fell for this line and the perception was created that the government was corrupt.

The reality is indeed very different.
The PPP/C administration took many measures to fight corruption and to improve accountability in public life. Indeed, Guyana was far ahead of almost all the countries in the Caribbean region in respect of this matter.

In the first instance, on assuming office, The PPP/C government immediately signed The United Nations’ optional protocol, which gave the UN the right to investigate any charge of discrimination based on race or ethnicity. We were the only country to sign onto this protocol.

Despite all the charges of racial discrimination made by the opposition and their mouthpieces in the media, they did not take any case to the UN. Clearly, they knew that no organized or surreptitious discrimination was taking place. That, however, did not stop them from making those charges because they were interested in creating the perception of discrimination to use against the PPP/C administration.
In terms of financial accountability, the PPP/C took many steps to improve that.

It is apposite to note that in the years before the PPP/C took office, public accountability and disclosure of the government’s finances were not done. In fact, according to a former Auditor General, he was prevented from conducting audits.

Every single year that the PPP/C was in office, the Auditor General’s report was presented. The Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee examined these reports in detail and made a subsequent report to the National Assembly.

That was not the end of the matter.
The Ministry of Finance was then mandated to produce a Treasury Memorandum, which had to clearly outline what measures would be taken to deal with the issues raised in the report.

The PPP/C government was the only administration in the region, and possibly in the Commonwealth, that removed the Cabinet from awarding contracts. This process was mandated to the National Procurement and Tender Board. The Cabinet was only tasked with giving its ‘no objection’ to the awarding of contracts.
Moreover, the PPP/C made the Auditor General’s office completely independent by having that department placed it under the jurisdiction of the Parliament and more specifically, accountable to the Public Accounts Committee.

It was the PPP/C government which introduced the system to advertise projects for public bidding. The same process was introduced for the procurement of goods and services by the then administration.
Before that, the PNC gave out contracts to their friends and family for both work programmes and projects for the acquisition of goods and services.

The PPP/C administration ensured that all the checks and balances were in place as far as good governance was concerned.

No one ever accused the administration of tampering with justice. The judiciary was an independent decision making body and free from political interference. This was clearly evident in the many verdicts that went against the government.

It was the PPP/C that insisted that the Caribbean Court of Justice be established as our final court.
Before that, the PNC manipulated the courts and even had the PNC flag flying above the court.
The National Assembly, too, was transformed into a fully functional and democratic body. The PPP/C established Standing Committees in the Assembly that were fully functional/operational. Ministers and senior public servants appeared several times before these bodies to give account of the government’s work. The issues dealt with included the economy, security, foreign affairs and border issues, natural resources, social services, etc.

All of these functioned.

To foster inclusivity, the PPP/C established rotating chairs of these committees. Both members of the opposition and government held these positions at all times.
This is another first in the region and possibly in the Commonwealth, and even outside of the Commonwealth.
The PPP/C also ensured that members of Parliament were given time to express their views in debates, budgets and/or otherwise.
At the same time, many Bills were sent to Select Committees to afford the input of both the opposition and the public.
This was a far cry from where we came in 1992.
These are only but a few of the measures that the PPP/C implemented to ensure transparency, accountability and good governance.
In the wider society, freedom of speech was guaranteed. Freedom of the press flourished.
No one was afraid to express their views/opinions.
Yet the opposition and its media friends managed to create an impression of massive corruption.
It appears that the opposition believed their own propaganda. They launched many audits, most of which have shown no evidence of corruption. Of course, such audits may uncover discrepancies, but there is no indication of any major corruption.
The regime is now, therefore, emphasizing those discrepancies and attempting to magnify them as major practices of corruption.
Meanwhile, the APNU+AFC regime has started to reverse the gains our nation made.
Speeches in the National Assembly are being cut. The media is being prevented from covering some Parliamentary Committee meetings, motions by the opposition are being thrown out, etc.
At the same time, racial and political discrimination has once again reared their ugly heads as thousands of Indo-Guyanese are being purged from the Public Service.
Fear is beginning to creep into society as the army is also being misused to stake out houses and to chase people down. People have become afraid to speak on their phones, believing strongly that their conversations are being listened to.
Fear is again the key to their governance.
The media is being barred from covering some Standing Committee meetings of parliament and many committees have not been meeting.
The perception which the APNU+AFC created that they would practice democracy and good governance is not in accord with reality.
All of these are signs that we are drifting back into the worst days of the PNC rule.
A former editor of the Guyana Graphic, Mr Ric Mentus, once described the PNC and their media manipulators are ‘The Mind Bogglers.’
He was speaking of the manipulators of the 1973 elections.
Mentus eventually lost his job and was kicked out of Guyana for expressing that view.
We must, therefore, guard against the manipulators and mind bogglers. Let us not allow them to misrepresent reality with false perceptions. We must always ensure that our perceptions are grounded in reality.