Employment audits

Over the last few decades, Guyanese public life had become enveloped in allegations and accusations of all kinds — political, economic and social.  These accusations have thrown a pall on the activities of Government, and have imperceptibly slowed down development.
One of the most pervasive of such accusations is corruption.  Ministers of Government and public functionaries of previous and present administrations have been so accused.  Such accusations are widespread, and have reached the status of ‘unchallenged truth’.
Several officials and public functionaries of the previous Administration have been accused of corruption of various kinds, such as receipt of bribes and kickbacks, and the misuse of public funds.  As a result, the present Administration had engaged investigators and forensic auditors to enquire into, and analyse, governmental activities of the past Administration.
The present Administration and its Ministers have been equally accused of the same kinds of misdemeanours, and the public across the political divide seem to believe such accusations.
The investigations and forensic audits which had been mounted to uncover the corruption of the previous Administration have not been able to uncover any of the serious acts of corruption which had been widely assumed and believed.  And the likelihood of similar audits and investigations being done on the present Ministers and other senior public functionaries would uncover no more than was uncovered on the previous Administration.
Unfortunately, these accusations and counter accusations result in the general public believing that high profile politicians and public functionaries are dishonest. This lack of trust is not helpful to effective and good governance.
One of the most divisive concerns of politicians and persons on all sides of the political divide is the practices of recruitment and employment of personnel by their adversaries.  There have been accusations from all sides that recruitment had been done on the basis of nepotism, racial and political considerations, pay-backs and every other criterion, except merit.
All administrations of the 21st Century accept that the criterion of merit is the best and most objective basis of employment. Personnel recruited on this basis do their duties more efficiently and loyally, and their production and productivity are invariably higher.  Working with a meritocracy is the surest way of running a successful administration. When an administration employs other than on the basis of merit, it is in effect shooting itself in the foot.
But despite the fact that politicians are intellectually aware that recruitment on the basis of merit is far better for the State and their own long-term interest, they may still employ persons on the basis of politics and race.
One of the best ways of establishing a regime based on merit is to have an audit of the personnel employed by the State and state-related bodies, such as the Civil Aviation Department, or the Geology and Mines Commission.  Such an audit would address, among other things, whether vacancies were advertised, inspection of applications so as to ascertain no one is wrongly disadvantaged, the racial background of the recruitee, their regular residence, and other such information.  Such information would remove the bone of contention which all political parties chewed on as part of their stock-in-trade.
Such employment audits could be used for a limited time, say five years, until recruitment would have become more equilibrial.
More importantly, such employment audits would remove a political concern which has distressed the political life of Guyana for decades; would save politicians from being unfairly pressured by constituents; and above all, would result in cleaner, more efficient and productive Government and government-affiliated bodies.  If the present Government is really serious about ensuring that its actions could withstand public scrutiny, this would be an important and necessary step.