THERE is a positive correlation between democracy, development and good governance. Central to the above is the issue of accountability.
Elected governments are accountable to the electorate and their continued stay in power rests with the electorate in periodic free and fair elections.

Guyana has had its full share of unaccountable governance, especially during the 1968-1992 period when all national and local elections were massively rigged to perpetuate the then ruling PNC regime in power. One consequence of undemocratic rule was the absence of accountability norms. There was also the blurring of the lines of separation and independence of the three branches of government, namely the Executive, Legislative and the Judiciary.

Guyanese who lived through that period of PNC ‘party paramountcy’ are all too familiar with the flying of the PNC flag over the Court of Appeal. There was also the self-styled Ministry of National Mobilisation funded by taxpayers, the only purpose of which was to mobilise and transport people to meetings and rallies organised by the then ruling party.

In such an environment, there was limited, if any, scope to hold the PNC regime accountable for its actions. The Legislative Assembly was very much farcical in nature as Bills were automatically passed, thanks to a stolen built-in majority. The situation had deteriorated to a point where, in the words of one leading clergyman, amounted to a crisis of confidence in the then-PNC administration.

Some in our society seem to think that ‘corruption’ and the perceived lack of accountability norms are of recent vintage. The recent action taken by the US Treasury Department is selectively and opportunistically used to create the impression that there is ‘corruption’ in high places.

Nothing could be further from the truth. As noted by Vice-President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo in his recent press conference, the PPP/C administration has taken the report by the US Treasury Department seriously and has in fact taken many executive actions to give effect to the findings of the report.

According to Dr. Jagdeo, the Government of Guyana and local law enforcement bodies will conduct a probe into the gold smuggling and corruption claims that prompted United States sanctions on two members of the Mohamed’s family and a Permanent Secretary.

In fact, the government had already written to the US Treasury Secretary, Janet Yellen seeking information on corrupt government officials in Guyana.

Democracy and the rule of law do not, however, exist in a vacuum but are premised on the concepts of fairness, the right to be heard, the presumption of innocence, and due process. Accordingly, and consistent with the norms of openness, transparency and good governance, the government has requested information from the United States authorities that could help take remedial measures to prevent any such recurrence.

No system, it must be said, is completely impervious to infractions of one type or the other and any information that could assist in the tightening up of systemic flaws can be helpful and productive.
The PPP/C administration must be commended for the forthright and proactive measures it has taken in response to the US Treasury Report. This is yet another manifestation of the no-nonsense approach and zero-tolerance for corruption, real or imagined on the part of the PPP/C administration