THE Transparency Institute of Guyana (TIGI) plans to write Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, to request a meeting about his alleged corrupt action relating to the appointment of controversial businessman, Brian Tiwarie, as a ministerial adviser on business. A statement from TIGI Tuesday noted that it also plans to send Minister Harmon “a set of questions on the matter at hand.”
TIGI had initially labelled the minister’s actions corrupt, prompting President David Granger to note that the group should have sought clarifications from Harmon before issuing its statement to the press.
According to TIGI, “The statement in general and the sentence that actually imputes corruption to the admission by the Minister of State to making certain appointments, is entirely consistent with the draft Code of Conduct for ministers.”
The draft Code of Conduct reads in part:
“Public office holders have a duty to … act with propriety on all occasions in accordance with the public trust and confidence placed in them. Public office holders have a general duty to act in the interests of the nation as a whole…. Public office holders are reminded that they owe a duty to the public and must consider themselves servants of the people.
“A conflict-of-interest situation arises when the “private interests” of the public office holder compete or conflict with the interests of the State. “Private interests” mean both the financial and personal interests of the official and staff or those of their connections, including … other clubs and societies to which they belong; and any person to whom they owe a favour or are obligated in any way.
“They should avoid compromising themselves or their office[s] which may lead to an actual or perceived conflict of interest. Failure to avoid or declare any conflict of interest may give rise to criticism of favouritism, abuse of authority or even allegations of corruption.”
According to the statement, corruption takes many forms.
“Not only does it include the more traditional forms of bribery, kickbacks, extortion, nepotism and cronyism, but also abuse of functions, illicit enrichment and trading in influence (UN Convention against Corruption) and patronage, which involves rewarding political support with favours, contracts, appointments, subsidies, prestige and other valued benefits. The draft Code of Conduct and the statement from TIGI, reflect an appreciation of the true nature and extent of corruption in Guyana and the role of public officers who, by virtue of their high profile, are important tipping agents in the quest to dislodge the culture of corruption.”
The anti-corruption body plans to launch an education programme that will begin by addressing institutional trust and campaign financing.