Private charges against Govt. Ministers part of PPP’s attempt to turn attention from its corruption record -Harmon

Hours after the PPP through two of its Members of Parliament filed charges against two government minister for alleged misconduct in office, the Minister of State has fired back at the PPP and says the move is not more than an attempt by the PPP to draw attention away from the malfeasance charges that have been filed against former Minister of Finance, Mr. Ashni Singh and former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of National Industrial and Commercial Investment Limited (NICIL), Mr. Winston Brassington. 

In a statement, Minister Harmon said the charges that were filed today against the current and former Minister of Public Health “is the PPP’s cowardly attempt to draw public attention away from its own sordid record of corruption while in office.  The PPP is aware that more charges are soon to be filed against high public officials who served under the Jagdeo and Ramotar administrations. These charges are a result of months of intense investigation by Commissions of Inquiries and evidence gathered by the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) of the Guyana Police Force.”

He said the PPP is aware that investigations have revealed that during its tenure in office, the nation was losing billions of dollars each year through procurement fraud and other corrupt activities by senior public officials.

“The Guyanese public will not be swayed by the legal shenanigans of the PPP, which, in effect, make a mockery of the legal system.  This Government will continue to take the necessary steps to ensure that those who held public office and engaged in malfeasance while in office are brought to justice.  We are sure that in the matter before the court the actions of our ministers will be vindicated”, Harmon said.

The charges filed against the two government Ministers by the PPP today relate to the rental of a bond for drug storage and the emergency purchase of drugs for the Georgetown hospital.