Former Permanent Secretary of the Agriculture Ministry, George Jervis, was sent on leave since January 2017, to facilitate police probe into a corruption case implicating several individuals. During his leave, he continued to receive the salaries and benefits associated with his position. Now we find out that, although investigations are still ongoing, Jervis was appointed to head the Agriculture Sector Development Unit (ASDU). ASDU is responsible for the implementation of projects funded by international organisations in several key areas aimed at enhancing the agriculture sector, including infrastructure.
Based on media reports, his appointment resulted from a mere recommendation by Agriculture Minister Noel Holder. The position was not advertised, and all that was needed for Jervis to secure the position was the President’s approval. Of course President Granger approved Jervis’s appointment without much ado.
Incidentally, former Deputy PS of the Agriculture Ministry, Prema Roopnarine, was charged with fraud allegedly committed while acting in her capacity as a former member of the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB). But unlike Jervis, she was neither sent on administrative leave nor was she given the opportunity to reintegrate into the Agriculture Ministry pending the investigations. She was fired. She was fired despite that, to date, there has been no concluding evidence to substantiate the charges levelled against her.
This is another local example of how pawns are assigned by Government to strategic positions requiring the management of millions of dollars in foreign funds, regardless of their lack of professional integrity. It explains in part why young professionals are being sidelined in Guyana and deprived of opportunities to add value to the country’s development – a contributing factor in the loss of trained professionals, who turn to other countries for employment.
It is also a very explicit display of political partisanship, which contradicts the APNU/AFC’s campaign promises of inclusive governance and national unity.
The modus operandi of the Coalition seems to suggest that power and wealth must remain a family affair at the detriment of taxpayers and the electorate of our multi-party State.
The unequal treatment meted out to Roopnarine, as opposed to Jervis, is also symbolic of the Government’s discriminatory approach towards the Opposition and its electorate. It explains why, unlike Roopnarine, Jervis, who is also investigated for corruption, is not subject to probe by SOCU.
The management of any organisation depends on the interdependence and cooperation of its leadership, and implicates the responsibility of each member. It is therefore absurd that, of sixteen (16) GRDB members who spearheaded the entity, the six (6) under investigation by SOCU are all Opposition members, and that no proof inculpating them for fraud has since been discovered. This simply reinforces the belief that the Coalition has converted the use of national institutions for the purpose of political witch-hunting.
The affair surrounding Jervis highlights the Government’s incompetence and lack of political will on several fronts, including failure to provide jobs because of preferential treatment, as well as failure to advertise Public Service vacancies. There seems to be a relative absence of commitment to principles of transparency and accountability, as well as deliberate disregard for established procedures and protocols required in the management of national institutions – all contributing factors to corruption.
What is interesting in this particular case is that organisations such as the World Bank also fund some of the projects undertaken by ASDU and the Agriculture Ministry. As a result, it is curious that international organisations, which in principle are very strict on respecting financial guidelines and procedures, seem to turn a blind eye to the Agriculture Ministry’s opacity in managing their funds, a matter overtly condoned by President Granger himself.
We’re half way into the Government’s mandate, and by now it’s clear that there will be no progress in terms of good, transparent, and inclusive governance. On the contrary, corruption seems to go hand in hand with the Coalition’s autocratic leadership style, where the only “unity” encouraged is the unity among its own agents.
But the international organisations that have taken up a watchdog role for democracy and good governance are also responsible for keeping the Government in check, by ensuring that their sums of money do not serve to fatten the pockets of the old guards of the PNC – the party that once trapped Guyana in a 28-year dictatorship.
Note: The Coalition pursued a mass firing campaign immediately after assuming office in 2015, leaving hundreds of public workers jobless overnight, including contracted workers employed on UN partnered projects. Yet the UN remained silent, and by its silence condoned the actions of the Government. This laxity must not be imitated by international organisations in the future.
