By Ravin Singh

PRESIDENT David Granger has said he has no interest in protecting persons who are accused of perpetrating corrupt acts. He, however, has remained non-committal as to when charges would be brought against anyone.During this week’s broadcast of The Public Interest, aired on the state-owned National Communications Network (NCN) on Friday, the President was asked whether Government would be making efforts to bring to justice those persons accused of corruption, and when this is likely to happen. The President responded, “…I can’t say when.”

Forensic audits were embarked upon by the coalition government upon its ascension to executive office last year, and some of those audits have revealed numerous irregularities in the operation of state institutions.
One such instance was the audit into the financial operations and functioning of the One Laptop Per Family (OLPF) project, which revealed that over 1900 laptops, totalling in excess of Gy$115 million, are currently unaccounted for, while defective laptops have taken the total losses to over Gy$300 million.

An audit into the operations of the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) also revealed that contracts issued by the Authority were mismanaged, while over Gy$9 million were spent on fuel for vehicles that were “not working.”

Additionally, it was revealed in the audit that the completion cost of the controversial Hope Canal was Gy$700 million more than what was announced by the then Government. And although these reports did not specifically identify anyone by name, they did indicate which departments were responsible for those irregularities.

As he stated in December, the President maintained, “This (the audits) is a work in progress”, and “it is not that easy to prosecute persons.” He reasoned that corruption might not be the only reason for irregularities, and that there could be other contributory factors, such as neglect or ignorance.

“When you examine cases, you might discover it’s due to ignorance or neglect. I’m not making an excuse for criminals, but we have to be very careful; not every time something goes wrong — [such as if] a vehicle breaks down — it’s because of a corrupt practice,” he said.

The President said Government is still at the stage of utilizing investigative agencies to examine the state of these institutions and to determine what had occurred.

Committing to no let-offs, President Granger assured that every person against whom evidence of corruption has been brought would be taken before the courts.

“Rest assured that persons against whom evidence has been accumulated, that there was corruption, we will go to the courts. We have no interest in protecting people; we have no sacred cows. If persons have committed crimes, they will be taken before the courts and have the courts decide (their fate),” he said.

The President’s commitment came just hours before Opposition Leader and former President, Bharrat Jagdeo, accused him of failing to stamp out corruption, as was promised prior to the May 11, 2015 general elections.
Jagdeo, who has been accused of harbouring corruption during his tenure (1999-2006), said: “The President said he wants to stamp out corruption, and…this is a lofty goal.”

However, Jagdeo’s call on the President was not the lone call. In fact, earlier this week, political activist and executive member of the Working Peoples’ Alliance (WPA), Dr David Hinds, cited the need for the Granger-led administration to take “drastic actions” against those responsible for corrupt practices, as was indicated in the audit reports.

And while the President has committed to doing same, he sought to remind all that Government still has a country to run, which makes it impossible for officials to stop what they are doing to find the corrupt people and take them to court.

“If we do this, we’ll be in court every day,” he said, adding that these persons will eventually be taken before the courts when Government is satisfied that it has accumulated enough evidence against them.