Declare assets to Integrity Commission or leave job – Govt tells defaulting officials

Many senior Government servants and officials have been flagged for failing to submit their declarations to the Integrity Commission, and Government has taken a stance that, should those persons remain incompliant, they would be asked to leave their jobs.
Making this disclosure was Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo in an interview on Thursday.
President Irfaan Ali has asked ministers to ensure that those officials working under them submit their statements to the Integrity Commission within a given timeframe. He has posited, “They would have to leave their job. The President has made it very clear that this is the approach…They have to comply, or leave their job. That’s the law. You don’t have the right to pick and choose which law you will comply with. That’s the law of our country.”
While all the Members of Parliament (MPs) on the Government’s side are in compliance, several current and former A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Members of Parliament (MPs) were among the officials whose names the Integrity Commission had cause to publicise for not complying with the law of declaring their assets.
Jagdeo commented, “Now, one would think that since they preach accountability, now they’re Opposition and they’re still continuing with the same thing. Ten of their Members of Parliament did not submit their statements to the Integrity Commission. All of ours did.
“APNU could paint a picture and deflect attention from their own shortcomings and, in this case, corruption. That is what has been happening. They had a really sordid history in Government of accountability.”
The declarations track the growth of a person’s assets once they assume public office, allowing for accountability. Under the law, any public officer who fails to comply with this directive is liable, upon summary conviction, to a fine of $25,000 and imprisonment for a period of not less than six months, and not more than one year.
Among the Opposition MPs finding themselves on the wrong side of the Integrity Commission were former Opposition Leader Joseph Harmon; current AFC Leader and MP, Khemraj Ramjattan; Sherod Duncan, another AFC MP; APNU MP and People’s National Congress (PNC) General Secretary Dawn Hastings-Williams; APNU MP and former Minister of Health Dr Karen Cummings; and former MP and Minister of Education Dr Nicolette Henry.
The list of civil servants is an extensive one, as it spans a number of Ministries and Departments. Among the most-high-profile names on the list are Guyana’s Solicitor General Nigel Hawke; Head of the Local Content Secretariat, Martin Pertab; Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB), Arvind Parag; Public Works Ministry Permanent Secretary Vladim Persaud; Chief Medical Officer Dr Narine Singh; Ambassador to China, Choo An Yin; and Guyana’s Ambassador to the Caribbean Community (Caricom), George Talbot.

Misinformation
On Wednesday, the Integrity Commission addressed misinformation circulating in the public domain regarding the recent publication of the Defaulters List for specified officers who did not submit their 2022 declarations by June 16, 2023. It explained that the Defaulters List published on June 24 accurately reflected the information available up to June 14, and included those specified officers who failed to meet the declaration submission deadline.
“The Integrity Commission diligently followed its established procedures to inform specified officers of their obligation to submit their declarations, including sending declaration packages, extending submission dates, dispatching reminder letters, and publishing a paid reminder advertisement to emphasize the deadline,” a statement outlined.
The declaration submission deadline for the year 2022 (1st July 2021 to 30th June, 2022) was August 31, 2022, and a further extension was given to December 31, 2022.
Specific officers who failed to submit their declarations by June 16, 2023 were appropriately listed as defaulters, as mandated by the Commission’s Act, No, 20 of 1997.
“Declarants who submitted after the cutoff period are now misguiding the public by implying that their compliance was not recognized. The Commission is currently in the process of updating the records to include the declarations received after June 16, 2023. A revised list will be prepared as part of the second phase of the Commission’s mandate,” it added.
The Commission has embraced the opportunity to remind persons of the importance of submitting declarations in a timely manner, to avoid being published as defaulters. (G12)