PRIME Minister Moses Nagamootoo has hailed as “big news” the report by Transparency International that during 2019, Guyana climbed three points on the ladder of its Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) to register its best score ever.

He stated in his latest My Turn column that with a score of 40, Guyana is ranked 85th among 180 countries, and is listed as one of the countries that have significantly reduced corrupt practices.

“It helps to project our image as a country with which others could do business,” he said. “It also recognises that our country has been implementing better practices that promote confidence and integrity in our governance systems,” he added.

Noting that this achievement did not come easily in a country that, just a decade ago, was cited for pervasive corruption, Minister Nagamootoo said it was the level of sleaze that was eventually responsible for the removal of the PPP from government after an unbroken 23 years in office.

The Prime Minister, who has portfolio responsibilities that include governance and parliamentary affairs, noted that Guyana is wriggling out from the Augean Stables of corruption. He accused the former PPP regime of spending monies from the public purse without the approval of the National Assembly, and in defiance of specific disapproval by the House.

“Public funds were squandered on questionable contracts with cronies for blotched projects, such as the Specialty Hospital, the Amalia Road to nowhere, single-sourced pharmaceuticals etc.,” he said, adding that the former regime had refused to pass public procurement legislation, which resulted in expenditure of public funds (to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars) being compromised. It failed to re-establish an Integrity Commission, which reinforced the perception that public officials were not accountable.
For years, he recalled, our country incubated what has been described as the “parallel economy” which was stifling the commercial oxygen from the legitimate private sector. That underground economy was characterized by trading in contrabands, narco-trafficking and money-laundering.

According to Mr. Nagamootoo, the unwelcome spin-offs were widespread kickbacks, extra-judicial killings, misappropriation of state resources, including improper allocation to friends of radio/television frequencies, forestry and mining concessions, and prime lands to state officials and friends.

Stating that when the six-party APNU+AFC Coalition came to office, it inherited systemic corruption that had required Herculean efforts to cleanse, he affirmed that the Granger Government quickly put in place the legislative and institutional framework to contain the excesses.

“These include laws on anti-money laundering and terrorism financing which in turn spawned the financial intelligence unit, the national anti-narcotic agency, the special organised crime unit, and the state asset recovery agency.”

The Government was serious about stamping out corruption, drugs and crime. It brought back the US Drugs Enforcement Agency (DEA), and re-established ties with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

The Prime Minister concluded that while it remains an uphill task to fully uproot corrupt practices which had eaten into the sinews of our society, Guyana has come a long way. The results show that we are trying, and getting kudos for our efforts.