Several APNU/AFC MPs fail to declare assets to Integrity Commission

…Solicitor-General, diplomats, PSs among senior Govt officials flagged

Several A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Members of Parliament (MPs), both current and former, were among the long list of public officials that the Integrity Commission had cause to publicise for not complying with the law mandating to declare their assets.

As of June 16, 2023, 10 Opposition MPs were flagged by the Integrity Commission for not submitting their declarations for the 2022 period – July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2022. No MP from the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) was flagged by the Integrity Commission as being in default.
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 and 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, were also flagged. In addition to Harmon, both Cummings and Henry have been flagged by the Integrity Commission in the past.
The list, meanwhile, also includes PNC Vice Chairman and APNU MP Shurwayne Holder, and MPs Deonarine Ramsaroop, Vinceroy Jordan and Devin Sears. Charrandas Persaud, a former AFC MP whose most recent appointment was as Guyana’s High Commissioner to India, was also flagged by the Integrity Commission.

Meanwhile, 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 and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) Arvind Parag.

The list of civil service defaulters also includes 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. Dr Marlan Cole, the former Director of the Food and Drug Department, was also flagged.
Last month, it had become known that 17 MPs had not submitted their declarations to the Integrity Commission.

Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo had at the time made it clear that none of the PPP’s Members of Parliament and Ministers were in violation and had urged that the names be released.
“We are not here to defend any public officer who does not submit their returns to the Integrity Commission. That is a law of our country and we fully support the publication of all the names of the people who are in default,” Jagdeo had said.
Officials not declaring their assets has been a persistent problem. In 2019, the Integrity Commission had published a mammoth list of 163 public officials who failed to make declarations as mandated by Section 19 of the Integrity Commission Act.

The Integrity Commission was established with the aim of improving the public’s confidence in the integrity of persons in public office by ensuring that they submit their declarations in compliance with the Integrity Commission Act. However, over the years, the Commission would have to publish the names of delinquent public officials in an effort to have them make their declarations.

Under the law, any public officer who fails to comply with the Commission is liable upon summary conviction, to a fine of $25,000 and imprisonment for a period of not less than six months or more than one year.
The Integrity Commission Act was assented to on September 24, 1997. The Act provides for the establishment of the Integrity Commission and makes provisions for the purpose of securing the integrity of persons in public life.

The Commission has the power to do anything for the proper performance of its function and in discharging its function; it is not subject to the direction or control of any other person or authority. (G3)