Minister of State breaks silence, brushes aside criticisms

Minister of State Joseph Harmon says he is not concerned by the current “organised campaign to damage his

Minister of State Joseph Harmon and supporters on Sunday
Minister of State Joseph Harmon and supporters on Sunday

reputation” as this will not affect the way in which he performs his duties.
The Minister broke his silence on Sunday after three weeks of sensationalised articles published by the Kaieteur News in an apparent smear campaign against him.
In what appears to be a move aimed at tarnishing Harmon’s political career, Kaieteur News has been publishing a series of articles about the Minister’s decision to appoint businessman Brian Tiwari as his personal Adviser on Business Development and instructions he gave to the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) to halt a seizure of several vehicles from Chinese logging company BaiShanLin. The articles were skilfully designed in a manner to portray the Minister as corrupt.
On Sunday, Harmon declared he was not bothered by the criticisms of “one or two newspaper columnists or one or two persons who write newspaper articles”.
In a statement issued by his Press Secretary, Malika Ramsey, Harmon said he was not concerned that the current “organised campaign to damage his reputation” would affect the way he performed his duties as Minister.
“Minister Harmon says he has always felt that it was the people who elected him, and the people who elected the coalition Government, and it is the people who decide whether or not that Government is performing – not one or two newspaper columnists or one or two persons who write newspaper articles,” the statement said.
Harmon said President David Granger had spoken on the matter definitively, and he respected the President’s judgment. As such, Harmon said he would not comment further on the matter.
President Granger had described claims of corruption against Harmon and his Government as “outrageous”, and stated that it was difficult for him to accept a blanket criticism of the entire Administration because of one incident.
Ramsey posted Harmon’s statement on social media site Facebook.
Giving his take on the issue on Sunday, former Government Minister and political commentator, Dr Henry Jeffrey told Guyana Times that Harmon’s decision not to provide an explanation was only leading to more speculation.
“It appears to me that what is necessary at this stage is for Minister Harmon to come out and say clearly what has taken place and for us to be able to make some clear judgment of what we believe should happen,” Dr Jeffrey said.

To Harmon’s defence
Social Cohesion Minister Amna Ally told a post-Local Government Elections (LGE)meeting on West Demerara on Sunday that she had pride in Harmon as she played up his “many projects” to better the lives of citizens in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) and across the country.
Ally said what was uppermost in Harmon’s mind was the development of Guyana. She said President Granger has every confidence in the Minister of State and reassured that “had the Minister of State done wrong, he would have been gone”.

Pro-Harmon demonstration
Meanwhile, several A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Councillors in Region Three staged a demonstration on Sunday outside the West Demerara Secondary School in support of Harmon who was meeting with recently-elected APNU/AFC Councillors for post-LGE (discussions.
The Transparency Institute of Guyana Inc (TIGI) last week came out swinging at Harmon and the coalition Government, claiming that the Administration was facilitating and proliferating corruption in Guyana.
TIGI premised its claims on the circumstances surrounding the “honorary” appointment of CEO of BK Industries, Brian Tiwari, as a Business Advisor to the Government and also Minister of State Joseph Harmon’s alleged actions with regard to his intervention in the work of the GRA.
Since taking office, Minister Harmon has been one of the most proactive and competent ministers within the APNU/AFC Administration and has been a target of Kaieteur News’ vendetta.