AMIDST an unprecedented tragedy in Guyana, there come moments of comedy that should never emerge once the nation mourns. But how can you stop comedic displays masquerading as patriotic sentiments? My column for today was in the preparatory stage when I read a press release by a group that carries the name, Transparency International, Guyana Inc. (TIGI).
Transparency International (TI) is a German-based organisation and this is not the time for any group to be associated with TI in Germany given the current role of Germany in the protection of Israel over Israeli committing genocide in Gaza. At the moment, Irish parliamentarians want the Irish government to intercede with Germany over the mock trial of a Palestinian activist, Daniel Tatlow-Devally who is languishing in a German cell.
According to Ashma John, a Guyanese columnist living in Germany, Germany picks up Palestinians in the uncivilised hours in the morning and deports them like in Nazi times (Ms. John’s description). Transparency International in Germany does not write about these things.
So here in Guyana, we have TIGI. Now who is in TIGI and who are the executives, no one in Guyana knows. Not an encouraging sign for an organisation that advocates transparency. According to a press release from TIGI, it convened a virtual national consultation with 24 participants on the commission of inquiry into the ferry disaster.
Now here is where “opaque” is an adjective that better describes TIGI rather than the word “transparent.” No name accompanied the press release and none of the 24 participants that were consulted were named. Is this transparency? So who were the people or organisations contacted?
Credibility is achieved through transparency. How do we know if TIGI did liaise with anyone and is just making that number up? If an organisation wants to be taken seriously, then it has to be open about its leadership and membership. It is my job to study Guyana’s social structure and I confess I do not know who sits on the executive of TIGI. And how could TIGI speak of transparency when transparency requires that they tell the nation who the people they consulted were? Incidentally, TIGI did not hold any consultancy when the 2020 national election became a disgrace, running as long as five months.
TIGI has concluded that they will have to withhold support for the commission’s work. That is not surprising. TIGI disassociated itself from the two previous commissions –one of the disastrous 2020 elections and the Madhia dormitory fire. And the answer is simple. Like the Guyana Human Rights Association, like the then Stabroek News, and like the successor of the Stabroek News, Kiskadee Watch, these are anti-government zealots masquerading as civil society entities.
Now for the comical parts of TIGI. It says that it wants each of the commissioners to publicly declare facts about their individual lives. I quote TIGI: “Each member should publish, before taking evidence, a signed declaration of any commercial, professional, institutional, familial or financial connection to the Government of Guyana, to any State agency or official, to the maritime sector in Guyana, or to any party with an interest in the outcome — together with the terms and value of their engagement.”
You wonder if there are people out there that take these anti-government zealots seriously? The answer is that they don’t. This organisation wants the commissioners to sign a declaration about their personal lives. This alone is insulting, but there is a comical side to this pomposity.
You have to laugh when you read this. You have to think that these people in TIGI and whomever they consulted are simply comical activists. I have never heard in my life, for all the years I have followed global politics, that when a commission of inquiry is set up, the sitting people have to tell the country things about their personal lives.
But should we not hear things about the lives of the people who sit in TIGI? Who are they? What are their institutional connections? Has TIGI ever received a donation from Azruddin Mohamed? In an individual capacity, have TIGI individual executives ever received any favours from Mohamed?
There is more comedy to come. Here is what TIGI noted and I quote: “Article 13 of the Constitution establishes inclusionary democracy as a principal objective of our political system, and provides for the increasing involvement of citizens in the decisions that affect their well-being.” But for five months in 2020 that inclusionary democracy was in its death throes because Guyanese were being denied their right to vote and that denial played out for five months. And where was TIGI during this democratic denial? Maybe in Germany or Timbuktu.
DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Guyana National Newspapers Limited.
