THE State Assets Recovery Agency’s (SARA) announcement that it is preparing around 10 cases to be taken to the courts and that another 50 matters are being investigated must have been welcome news to citizens who have an interest in the maintenance of the rule of law.

For the past three weeks, media reports have been flooded with comments from various quarters about the need for Guyana to stamp out corruption at all levels of society. This chorus has been led by the government with the Attorney General Mr Basil Williams playing a lead role in a series of anti-corruption workshops and consultations. He has also been speaking to the heads of agencies critical to Guyana’s anti-money laundering fight about their roles and responsibilities.

At an anti-corruption march on Friday, British High Commissioner to Guyana, Greg Quinn, stated that while this country has made tremendous strides in tackling the scourge, much more work needs to be done. Since every society is governed by laws, it means that among other supportive sign posts, the Rule of Law is paramount and automatic, as an accepted plank in the judicial decision-making process.

Therefore, it is the legitimate expectation of society that all law-breakers, irrespective of status and class, will be answerable to its laws. But is this the understanding of sections of this society, especially those who are aware that they have committed serious acts of dishonesty that have placed them in direct collision with the law? Moreover, is this clearly known by their political backers from the political opposition who continue to deliberately mislead their constituents by claiming “witch-hunt’’?

How can the latter be, when there are clear and unambiguous charges for them to answer in court? This is unashamedly an act of political dishonesty which continues in its desperate bid to legitimise corruption. It would seem that because of the longevity of this chronic social evil that has permeated every crevice of public service, that it has been accepted as a norm. The recent responses from the opposition once again bring this grave issue into focus. In fact, each time government makes an announcement about the advancement and preparation of the State Assets Recovery Agency (SARA) to pursue persons who have allegedly stolen state assets, the opposition shouts victimisation of those suspected because of members and association with its political party.

SARA as a body enacted by legislation is not about politicisation as a reason for its raison d’etre, for investigating those suspected of financial crimes, because of their political affiliation. Its mandate in accordance with its prescribed lawful authority, gives it the right to prosecute anyone, irrespective of ethnicity, political loyalty/affiliation, or social standing who unlawfully have taken state assets. Neither is the agency about taking away from a particular ethnic group what they have lawfully acquired, as one opposition party spokesperson claimed at a cultural function, some time ago.

Theft, embezzlement and misappropriation of state assets take many forms. Some include denial of revenue to the state through non-payment or underpayment of taxes, white collar crimes and evading the regulatory and oversight functions of the state as prescribed by law. The idiom that there is no excuse for ignorance under the law — though not disputed—would be more meaningful should persons be aware what the laws require of them.

Here there may be utility in establishing an information reservoir, easily accessible, and understood by the public. It may be useful to advance some form of public education that includes the delivery of literature, public service announcements and online access. Laws such as the Integrity Act are vital to the process of holding public officials accountable.
The principle of upholding ethical standards while in service to the people should not be trifled with. And here is where Guyanese look forward to the APNU+AFC government honouring its commitment to strengthen the Integrity Act and establish the Integrity Commission. Director of the State Assets Recovery Agency (SARA), Professor Clive Thomas, has publicly made known this unit’s limitations of pursuing justice in the absence of enforcing laws.

The many training courses designed to arm investigators of the various relevant arms tasked with these asset crimes investigations; the re-training of the nation’s judiciary for their role in the judicial process; the hiring of international state assets crimes experts to aid in the establishment of anti-corruption systems, as well as holding seminars that seek to inform public servants as to the evil that is corruption, and its threat to the state’s socio-economic well-being, testify to the vastness of an unprecedented avarice for state assets.

No responsible government can afford to ignore such criminal pervasiveness that has inflicted so much damage. Thus, it is the right of any state to pursue and prosecute those who have transgressed its laws, irrespective of what their political party ties are; those who are found to be corrupt must never be rewarded by their ill- gotten gains on the backs of the hard-working, taxpaying Guyanese.