I WISH to congratulate the presidential candidates for attending the debate and sharing their plans with our students at the University of Guyana (UG). All of the presentations were relevant, as they directly addressed some of the common concerns of students. I was especially impressed with the presentations by Mr. Donald Ramotar and Mr. Khemraj Ramjattan, who evidently did their research before the debate.
Notwithstanding, I was extremely disappointed by Mr. Khemraj Ramjattan’s attempt to misguide the students with statistics from Transparency International and the World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Competitiveness Report. According to Mr. Ramjattan, Guyana is either ranked last or second to last in the world with regards to corruption, based on those reports. However, the most current data suggest otherwise. The table below provides the country’s ranking as it relates to corruption.

Source:
Guyana’s Corruption Ranking
World Economic Forum (WEF), The Global Competitiveness Report 2010-2011.

In the survey of businesses, only 15.3 per cent indicated that corruption is an impediment for doing business in Guyana. This means that approximately 74.7 per cent disagree with the view that corruption is a major issue.
There were no data regarding
Transparency International, the Global Coalition against corruption 2010

Corruption perception index: rank 116 out of 178 countries
Global Corruption Report 2009: Corruption and the Private Sector

Corruption Perception Index 2008: rank 128  out of 180 countries

In his presentation, Mr. Ramjattan came over as one who had his ‘facts’ correct, or a person who did his research. Further, when he presented the data to the students, he never displayed any uncertainty about the statistics quoted, obviously to convince the audience that his data were reliable.
My questions, therefore, are:
1. What is the motive for misquoting the statistics from Transparency International and the WEF?
2. Can we trust the AFC as a party to be honest given this clear and deliberate attempt to mislead the students of the University of Guyana in the interest of gaining a few votes?

If, for some reason, it was a mistake on the part of Mr. Ramjattan to claim that Guyana is the most corrupt country in the world, I believe that decency should dictate that he sets the records straight by citing the correct statistics.