Letter: Breaking away from a culture of corruption

Dear Editor,

For decades now, Guyana has been plagued by a culture of lawlessness when it comes to public officials in high office. Make no mistake, this is not a new occurrence, it is a phenomenon that has plagued us for a long time.

It is a practice called corruption. In legal terminology, corruption is a transaction done between two or more individuals, one of whom is the state agent who occupies a position of influence to conduct affairs in such a manner as to secure benefits for him/herself, or for his/her friends and associates.

This state of affairs has been ongoing for years, is something that has put a dark cloud on public office in this country, and has reached headline attention only since the present Government has put a legal stop to it.

Government is sending a clear message that it would no longer countenance corruption in any form in this society. We are now in the process of building a modern society, in which past forms of corrupt dealings in public office must be done away with. The point I am making is that high high-ranking officials can no longer use public office as a leeway to “Making it big”; or public office as a stepping stone to riches.

Well, I am happy to disappoint those so inclined: this foolishness must stop now!The ongoing probe of the Assistant Police Commissioner is a case in point: in which a public officer is embroiled in the controversy of receiving “gifts” of extravagant monetary value. How this gross violation of the Money Laundering Act could have been overlooked is the burning question. Didn’t it cross the minds of bank officials that this might have been a blatant case of money laundering? These are the questions someone is tempted to ask when looking into such cash transactions.

Failure to make checks on high-ranking officials in money is a sure cause for concern, because of the checks and balances imposed on the small man when he conducts his business at the banks, as against the high-ranking officers. It causes you to wonder whether there is one law for the rich, and another, more stringent and demanding one, reserved for the ordinary man. It is unacceptable behaviour, even in the worst of times, when a disproportionate system is promoted in society.

So, let me ask the question again: is there one law for the ordinary man and a totally different rule for senior public officials? Which is it? I think the bank should be held to account for dereliction of duty.

The Opposition and their minions have come out in their usual role of heaping scorn on the investigation into Brutus’s accounts. Their outcry is centred on the theme that he is a PPP and should be precluded from prosecution. Even the decrepit GHRA has come out of hibernation to cast aspersions on Government’s handling of the matter. They think that no investigation should be done because the entire PPP/C is corrupt, therefore Brutus should be given a free pass.

If we should go on their word: that Brutus is a PPP and should be shielded from prosecution, then they need to think again. Let me inform Opposition charlatans that every known PPP/C parliamentarian was arrested and prosecuted when the PNC- led Coalition came to power in 2015. That regime was so vicious and vindictive in the process that ministers were shamed, shackled and led through the court system. Even the wheelchair-bound Dr Luncheon was not spared. So, to come now with their duplicitous plea is hilarious, to say the least.

In closing, let me say that the Government of Guyana is building a modern society in which all backwardness of this sort must be dismantled. Public officials must publicly account to this nation for their actions. Being a public figure, one must exhibit a culture of refinement, where notable qualities are easily recognizable.

I would add that gone are the days when corrupt officials ran the state apparatus. Those avenues cannot be revived as we forge ahead in a new tomorrow; we would not allow our country to go down that Third World road to ruin.

Respectfully,Neil Adams