SOCU, SARA staff among public officers to be asked to declare assets

At a time when stringent efforts are being made to weed out corruption within the public sector, the Integrity Commission is looking to expand the range of public officers who are required to declare their assets.

During a press briefing on Wednesday, Chairman of the Commission, Kumar Duraisami said that certain officers are not included on the list of declarants since most of these posts were nonexistent when the Integrity Commission Act was established.
Nevertheless, Duraisami noted that recommendations have been made to have Schedule 1 of the Act, which contains the list of public officers required to make declarations, expanded.
Among those public officials are those within agencies that investigate money laundering and other financial crimes such as the controversial Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) and the State Assets Recovery Agency (SARA).
“The Financial Crime Unit (FIU), we’re hoping to have those officers in that unit to be included in the schedule among others. We’re hoping to get SARA and SOCU; these organisations and these officers, who are public officers, should be accountable to the Integrity Commission,” the Chairman asserted.

In addition, Duraisami also outlined that a number of top-ranking officers within the Guyana Police Force (GPF) are also among those to be added to the Schedule. These include Deputy Commissioners, Divisional Commanders, Assistant Commissioners, and the Divisional Crime and Traffic Heads.

“The Schedule before only states that the Commissioner of Police submit [declaration] but I think that’s because the police departments are so large and they have so many sections, we should include these people,” the Chairman posited, while adding “…These are people in position who can be susceptible somehow to people approaching them and we’ve heard all kinds of allegations [against] them… So I think they ought to be [in the Schedule] because the Commissioner of Police is not the only person who ought to be accountable to the public.”
Furthermore, the Integrity Commission also wants to include the Registrar as well as Deputy and Assistant Registrars of Lands; the Deputy and Assistant Registrars of Deeds; and the Deputy and Assistant Commercial Registrars on the expanded Schedule.
Asked about plans to make public officials from the Department of Energy, which falls under the Ministry of the Presidency, declarants as well, Duraisami pointed out that the oil and gas sector is now coming on stream. But he noted that this will be done when there is a fully operational sector.
“As that sector develops, we will have to look at it; look at those public officials, who in our opinion, ought to declare… We haven’t produced a drop of oil yet. It’s ‘til next year we’re supposed to produce oil and once that department gets functioning fully, we will be aware of all the public officials who are involved in it,” he stated.
However, according to Duraisami, while there is a need for the Schedule to be expanded, the Integrity Commission can only make recommendations to the subject Ministry, which is Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo.
“The Prime Minister is responsible for Commission so all Schedule changes and changes to the Act will go to him… As soon as this thing in Government smooth out, somehow, we will make recommendations to the Prime Minister and he will discuss with his colleagues…,” the Chairman stated.
But even as the Integrity Commission is looking to expand the list of declarants, there are still hundreds of defaulters on the current list who are yet to make their declarations.
According to Duraisami, in accordance with the Act, the Commission has already published five lists of defaulters, with two more to be published before they can move to prosecution.