Concerns of political influence, directorial powers raised

State Assets Recovery Bill consultations

The Legal Affairs Ministry and the Attorney General Chambers hosted a stakeholders consultation on the Draft State Assets Recovery Bill 2016 during which concerns of political influence, as well as the amount of powers instilled in the Director of what would be the State Assets Recovery Agency (SARA) were raised.

The Bill introduces the State Assets Recovery Act 2016, which seeks to establish SARA – the organisation that will be responsible for recovering, through civil proceedings, State properties unlawfully acquired by public officials or any other persons. The proposed legislation is slated to be tabled in Parliament following its August recess.
Thursday’s consultation session ran for about two hours, during which stakeholders made queries, raised concerns and even made recommendations on the drafted legislation.
Among the concerns outlined was the fact that there is a political imbalance of the Parliamentary Appointments Committee, which will be tasked with selecting the Director of SARA. This concern was made by Head of the Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA), Mike Mc Cormack, in light of concerns made by the political Opposition that most of the individuals that the State Asset Recovery Unit (SARU) – which will be incorporated into SARA – went after had served under the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) regime and most of whom are members of the Party.
The GHRA head outlined that the presence of bipartisan involvement in the appointment of the SARU Director was in fact done in favour of the Government, which not only chairs the Appointment Committee but has majority members.
Mc Cormack noted, “It is effectively a partisan appointment given the powers that are being wielded are enormous.”
However, Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Basil Williams pointed out that in drafting the proposed legislation, efforts were made to have the best procedure that will satisfy all stakeholders. He referred to the appointment of the Director, Deputy Director and two other staff members for the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU),nothing that even though it took almost a year, they were eventually selected in consensus.
“The path of inclusivity is where we are on,” the Minister remarked. He went on to highlight that there has been a difference in the culture that is present within the Parliamentary Appointive Committee than of that which is seen on the floor of the National Assembly.
“We believe that any other route will still raise doubts about partisanship and biasness,” Williams posited.
Moreover, concerns were voiced by the President of the Guyana Bar Association (GBA), Gem Sandford-Johnson over the amount of powers instilled in the Director and recommended that a Board of Directors be installed to govern the agency. However, the Attorney General explained that it would not be effective for there to be too many heads over the agency, whose work will be attended by secrecy and confidentially.
In addition, the Chief Parliamentary Counsel, Cecil Dhurjon, had commented that the Agency will be under the scrutiny of Parliament on a yearly basis. He further noted that when a Director is appointment, it has to be someone of high calibre and great integrity.
“The present Director appointed is the distinguish Professor (Clive Thomas)… you want to appoint someone to watch the distinguish Professor,” he asked.
On the other hand, the financial sector also sought to seek clarity on the impact the proposed legislation will have on its policies. Representative from the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI), Nazla Faizoul, expressed concerns over the fact that confidential information will be in the hands of law enforcement officials and investigators.
“The banks are a bit concerned with the extent to which we are required to divulge customer information,” she stated, disclosing that currently, the bank has received requests and instructs from organisations such as the FIU, the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) among others.
“I know that we are excused from liability for divulging that information… (but) should information fall into the hands of others, others who may be asked to assist SARU with investigations, that they same level of confidentiality be applied to them… I just wanted to underscore the importance for us to limit the pool of persons as far as possible,” Faizoul outlined.
Among the stakeholders at the consultation session, which was held at the Pegasus Hotel, were members from the Judiciary, the Guyana Bar Association, transparency organisations, the Private Sector and others.
Addressing the gathering in the opening session, Minister Williams pointed out that this step is his Government’s commitment to the fight against corruption.
The Bill was conceptualised with the assistance of various international partners including the United States. To this end, US Ambassador Perry Holloway, delivering remarks before the plenary session pointed out that such legislation will bring Guyana in alignment with international conventions, as he pledged his country’s continuous support.