Crushing Corruption

by Peter R. Ramsaroop

One glance at the headlines of yesterday's paper demonstrates the complete and utter frustration Guyana feels over the extensive corruption on every level of law enforcement and governmental agency. Black smoke filled the air as tyres burned with the same hot fire that burns in the hearts of those in Tain who want justice instead of corrupt law enforcement officers.

This week, BBC had a report on the ongoing corruption in Kenya . The British High Commissioner in Kenya , Sir Edward Clay, has taken a very strong stance on this issue by vocally criticising Kenya 's record on tackling corruption.

Sir Clay said he believes the foreign aid for Kenya is going into the right places, since there are safeguards to ensure the proper disbursement of the funds. The money is watched very carefully. However, he feels that in many instances the aid is simply funding what tax dollars would normally cover and those tax dollars then disappear into the pockets of corrupt government officials.

Can this be one possible explanation for how those government officials in our own country have assets that far exceed their income? There are many other possible explanations as well, such as kick back deals, bribes and payoffs. It is as if these officials think they can live above the law.

All Guyanese share the frustration expressed by the people of Tain this week. Corrupt and criminal law enforcement officers and government officials drag this nation further into a desperate whirlpool of degradation – and these are the ones we have trusted to protect us from crime and corruption. Now the question is who will protect us from them?

The Guyana Third Force (GTF) is readying itself to be a force for the people. We realise the importance of putting action to our words. This is in sharp contrast to the parties of the past who say they encourage transparency and revile corruption, but their actions – and their assets – prove otherwise.

Addressing the issue of corruption, especially of State and Government employees, will be a top priority. The law should be amended to allow the presumption of guilt to shift if it can be demonstration that an employee or state official's assets are in excess of his income.

Although we all wish it did, money does not grow on trees. Therefore, those who enter public service with a certain amount of money cannot expect to get rich in service to the people. This is even truer for a poor country.

Many of these “public servants” entered their positions with very little in way of monetary possessions. While it is true that most have maintained their official position for quite a few years now, which makes a decent salary, there is still no way most of them could purchase the houses and cars they have without “outside” funding.

If the average salary is about a few hundred US dollars a month, then how can these officials possibly afford to put up grand homes that cost around US $200,000? Even if they make US $1,000/month, there is no way they could afford these types of homes without some extra padding.

It is reprehensible that any “public servant” would get rich on the backs of his/her fellow countrymen, while the rest of the nation is trapped in a quagmire of poverty. The money being siphoned from the public through illegal means could be used to raise the overall standard of living.

In other words, the kickbacks from deals paid for by the taxpayers could easily fund so much. However, instead of a viable infrastructure, a road to Brazil , functioning traffic lights, a new sewer system, new economies in technology and non-traditional agriculture, a reduction in the poverty rate or a thriving industry in any of the upcoming new markets – instead of all of this, many officials have big houses and nice cars. What we have been saying for years finally came through. Sugar will collapse and they did not do what we had advocated for years: Diversify our economy. This failure will cost the loss of thousands of sugar workers jobs in the near future. The propaganda must stop.

So much for the PPP's communist notions. If they truly believed one word of their own propaganda, they would be living in the same conditions as the rest of the nation and the money used to build those big houses would have been used to better the economic state of the entire nation – not just the economic state of a few political elites. That does not sound like communism to me.

The GTF recommends the creation of an independent Corruption Investigation Bureau to investigate corruption in the State Sector. We propose strict sentences to be imposed on convicted corrupt officials and their assets to be seized and forfeited. These officials should also be permanently banned from Government Service and lose their pensions.

The corruption that is so rife in this nation has been a constant pain since our independence. The PPP have failed the nation by using the people as pawns for their own gain. Instead of working hard for the people, they make the people work hard for them. This twisted corruption must end with the next election.

The GTF plans to raise the standards of transparency and accountability. We plan to make our net worth public right up front, so no one can question the integrity of our political pursuit, which is a better Guyana .

We believe the salaries of all public officials should be a matter of public record and that strict conflict-of-interest guidelines should be implemented and enforced. These are necessary steps if any government wants the people to start trusting them again. Trust is an earned commodity, and right now in Guyana trust is a rare commodity.

Thanks to the PPP, it will take years to rebuild the trust of the people, but the GTF is up for the task. The slippery money that greases the greedy hands of these corrupt officials is money that belongs to the people. In the next election, it is time to make sure this money gets to where it belongs.

The black smoke that filled the sky over Tain this week represents the frustration of every single Guyanese. The empty promises of these corrupt officials rise in a spectacular display, but in the end – just like the black smoke – it dissipates into nothingness. We are long on broken promises and short on actual progress.

It is time to crush corruption once and for all in our country.