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Jagdeo fails to hold Integrity Commission meeting
January 22, 2009 | By knews
Filed Under News
Bharrat Jagdeo
The promised meeting between President Bharrat Jagdeo and the Integrity
Commission, slated for yesterday, did not come off as was promised by the
President.
Pandit Rabindranauth Persaud, a commissioner on the Commission, did say that
the Office of the Integrity Commission did convey a message to the
President, asking him to signal his availability for the meeting.
He chose to make no further comment on matters of the commission, given that
in his oath he had sworn to secrecy.
The matter was referred to acting chairman of the body, Fazeel Ferouz, who
could not be reached because he was overseas.
The Chairman is Guyana's Anglican Bishop, Randolph George, but he has not
been acting in that capacity for close to three years.
The other member is Secretary of the Guyana Council of Churches, Nigel
Hazel.
On Monday last, President Jagdeo had said, "On Wednesday (yesterday), I am
meeting with them (Integrity Commission), and I will say to them that within
two weeks I expect a list of all the Members of Parliament, that their names
be published in the newspaper."
He was referring to the MPs who did not declare their assets and income to
the commission.
However, according to the Integrity Commission Act of Guyana, "In the
exercise and discharge of its functions, the Commission shall not be subject
to the direction or control of any other persons or authority."
The same legislation does stipulate, however, that "Where a person who is
required to do so fails to file a declaration in accordance with this Act,
or to furnish particulars under section 18, the Commission or the President,
as the case may be, shall publish the fact in the Gazette and in a daily
newspaper."
Under the piece of legislation, there is a specific list of office holders
who are required to declare assets to the Commission, and the Commissioners
declare their assets to the President.
Jagdeo, on Monday last, had also said that apart from having the names of
the defaulters published, they would be subject to the penalties under the
Act.
According to the Act, the penalty for failing to comply is: "a fine of
$25,000 and imprisonment for a term of not less than six months nor more
than one year; and where the offence involves the non-disclosure by the
declarant of property which should have been disclosed in the declaration,
the magistrate convicting the person shall order the person to make full
disclosure of the property within a given time; and on failure to comply
with the order of the magistrate within the given time, the said offence
shall be deemed to be a continuing offence, and the person shall be liable
to a further fine of $10,000 for each day on which the offence continues."
Members of Parliament and other senior officials, who are required by law to
declare their assets to the Integrity Commission, now have two weeks to do
so or face the court, according to Jagdeo.
The President was responding to a recent call by the People's National
Congress to have the forensic audit of Customs officers extended to senior
Government officials.
The President pointed out that such a call was unnecessary, given that there
was an Integrity Commission in place for the same reason.
The President emphasised that the ultimatum was not limited to the
Opposition, in that members of the Government side of the House who default
will share the same fate.
On Friday last, the PNCR issued a statement calling for the forensic audit
to include senior Government officials and corrupt business people.
According to the party, it has noted that the Auditor-General has confirmed
that a forensic audit into the assets of employees of the Customs and Trade
Administration (CTA) has been authorised, and most Guyanese would regard
this as an important step in the exercise of rooting out corruption from
that department.
"However, the PNCR believes that this tool would be useful in tracking down
the now endemic corruption in all areas of the society."
It added that the Auditor-General and the Jagdeo Administration should call
upon those persons and entities, including those who have acquired assets
which bear no relationship to their incomes and earnings, to submit to
similar forensic audits.
The warning from Jagdeo as it relates to the MPs having two weeks to declare
income and assets to the Integrity Commission drew a hostile response from
the Alliance For Change, which stated that the President was overstepping
his boundary.
According to a release that was issued by the party, the Leader of the AFC,
Raphael Trotman, strongly condemned the threat of prosecution issued by
President Jagdeo when he issued an ultimatum to MPs to declare their assets
within two weeks, or face prosecution.
The statement, according to Trotman, has had a chilling effect and signals
that the Executive branch of Government has now decided to impose its will
on the Legislative branch, and also to threaten members of that branch.
"Nowhere in the free world could the head of the Executive branch issue
ultimatums, threaten, and initiate criminal action against members of the
Legislature...It is obvious that Jagdeo does not understand the sacred
concepts of the rule of law and separation of powers, and needs to be
enlightened accordingly, or has decided not to pay them any mind...
"The AFC states unapologetically that there is now the clear and
unmistakable presence of a dictatorship in Guyana."
The party emphasised that, by Act of Parliament, the Integrity Commission
was established to oversee the acquisition of assets by public officials,
and if there is a failure to comply, there are certain prescribed actions
that the Commission may take without the instruction having to come from the
President of Guyana.
Additionally, Jagdeo has to be reminded that the question of whether indeed
the Integrity Commission is even properly constituted is a matter engaging
the attention of the High Court.
The People's National Congress Reform had challenged the constitutionality
of the Integrity Commission, but the matter is still before the courts.
According to the Act, persons required to declared assets include: The
President of Guyana, The Speaker of the National Assembly, Ministers
including Ministers of State,
Secretary to the Cabinet, Parliamentary Secretaries, Members of the National
Assembly, members of the National Congress of Local Democratic Organs,
members of the Regional Democratic Councils, Clerk of the National Assembly,
Attorney-General (if not a Member of the Cabinet), Head of the Presidential
Secretariat, Director of Protocol, Office of the President; Chief of
Protocol, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Permanent Secretaries and Deputy
Permanent Secretaries, Ombudsman, Director of Public Prosecutions, Deputy
Director of Public Prosecutions, Solicitor-General, Deputy
Solicitor-General, Chief Parliamentary Counsel, Deputy Chief Parliamentary
Counsel. Auditor-General, Deputy Auditor-General, Secretary to the Treasury,
Deputy Secretary to the Treasury, Commissioner of Police, Deputy
Commissioner of Police, Chief of Staff, Guyana Defence Force;
Director-General, Guyana National Service; Commandant, Guyana People's
Militia; Members, Elections Commission; Members, Judicial Service
Commission; Members, Public Service Commission; Members, Police Service
Commission; Members, Teaching Service Commission; Members, Public Service
Appellate Tribunal; Police Complaints Authority, Heads of Diplomatic
Missions of Guyana accredited to any other country or any international
organization, Governor, Deputy Governor and Heads of Divisions of the Bank
of Guyana, Managing Directors and Managers of state-owned or controlled
banks, Heads of all Government Departments, Commissioner of Lands and
Surveys, Deputy Commissioner of Lands and Surveys, Commissioner of Geology
and Mines, Deputy Commissioner of Geology and Mines Commissioner of Forests,
Deputy Commissioner of Forests, Commissioner of Inland Revenue, Deputy
Commissioner of Inland Revenue, Comptroller of Customs and Excise
Deputy Comptroller of Customs and Excise, Judges of the Supreme Court,
Presidential Advisors, Magistrates, Commissioner of Title, Registrar of the
Supreme Court, Registrar of Deeds, State Solicitor, Official Receiver and
Public Trustee, Chief Planning Officer,
Chief Executive Officer, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, and Heads of
Departments, Public Corporations Secretariat, Chairmen, Managing Directors,
Chief Executive Officers, General Managers and Heads of Departments of all
public corporations, and other bodies corporate and agencies (including
companies and bodies established by or under any statute) owned by the
State, or in which the controlling interest is vested in the State or in any
agency on behalf of the State, Vice-Chancellor, Registrar, and Deans of
Faculties of the University of Guyana, Registrar-General, Chief Elections
Officer and Commissioner of Registration, Mayors and Deputy Mayors and Town
Clerks, as well as Members of the Integrity Commission, among others.
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