–says guilty comrades must face the consequences

By Ravin Singh
OPPOSITION Leader Bharrat Jagdeo has added his voice to calls for the Government to release the findings of the $133M forensic audits which were embarked upon by the Coalition Government upon its assumption to office last year.Jagdeo, a two-term President under the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Administration, reiterated this call on Tuesday at a press conference at the party’s Freedom House headquarters, Robb Street.

While in Opposition, the parties, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC), were very vocal against corruption, accusing the then PPP Administration of indulging in highly corrupt practices, which that party has always challenged.

Just last year, Guyana’s ranking on the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index List moved slightly in a positive direction, although the country has still been listed in the very corrupt category. The 2014 results revealed that Guyana remains behind its Caribbean Community (CARICOM) counterparts, ranking 124th out of 175 countries. The only CARICOM nation that ranks below Guyana is Haiti, which placed at 161.

And while the APNU+AFC coalition campaign highlighted its anti-corruption credentials, it had committed to expose acts of corruption, seen in some quarters as quite glaring. Audits were to be conducted into almost 30 state agencies, national projects and funds.

The Government is, however, yet to reveal the findings of these audits, most of which were conducted by Ram and McRae Chartered Accountants; Nigel Hinds Financial Services, and Dr Anand Goolsarran.

DELIBERATION
Just recently, Minister within the Ministry of Finance, Jaipaul Sharma, who has responsibility for the audits, revealed that Cabinet has commenced deliberating on some of the forensic audit reports that were compiled after a number of State agencies had been audited.

“Every week, we’re delivering one to the Cabinet for discussion and so forth. So, as we proceed, we review and discuss with Cabinet,” Minister Sharma has said.

Mr Jagdeo has, however, reiterated the PPP’s call — on Monday — for Government to release the audits, since this will not only promote transparency, but taxpayers’ money which was spent would not go to waste.

He charged that Government should give these reports on the audit findings to newspapers, television stations, and any public medium which could publicize the information.

“Put up a website and put up the audits, since we are calling for transparency,” Mr Jagdeo charged.
He said that if any of these audits reveal that someone has broken the law, then the judicial arm of the State should become operational.

TAKE ACTION
“But the first thing that it starts with is releasing the audits, because, to do these audits they used our money. Then take action against anyone who has violated any of the provisions,” he asserted.

However, this call comes with a condition. According to the Opposition Leader, the PPP is calling for the investigations to be done professionally, and for there to be no witch-hunting, since that party will refuse to cooperate with the executing agency.

“Once it is not a witch-hunt and there are real issues, and the investigations are done professionally, then any member of the PPP who have to face the court for any alleged wrongdoing; they have to face the consequences once the investigation is done professionally,” he told reporters.

Last Monday, former Public Service Minister under the PPP Administration, Dr Jennifer Westford, and the Personnel Manager who served under her, Margaret Cummings, were each placed on $4.8M bail on multiple charges of fraud. It is alleged that they stole $638M. They are accused of withdrawing the money -– property of the State -– over a four-year period.

With Dr Westford being still a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Opposition PPP, the Opposition Leader was quizzed on whether these charges against her had tainted the party’s image. He declined to respond, stating only that the matter is before the court; and while he has sought and was in receipt of explanations for Westford’s allegations, he could not speak about it at Tuesday’s press conference because the justifications are part of her defence.

“At some point in time, she will have to speak on these matters directly. We have already asked that it happens without prejudicing the court case,” Mr Jagdeo stated.