The Integrity Commission has called out a number of former and current A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Opposition Members of Parliament (MPs) for failing to declare their assets.
They are among the long list of public officials that the Integrity Commission has publicised for not complying with the law, that is, Section 19 of the Integrity Commission Act.
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.
Among the Opposition MPs in default is former Opposition Leader Joseph Harmon. Current AFC leader and MP Khemraj Ramjattan and Sherod Duncan – another AFC MP, were also flagged.
From the APNU line-up are former Minister of Health Dr Karen Cummings, and People’s National Congress (PNC) General Secretary Dawn Hastings-Williams, as well as former MP and Minister of Education Dr Nicolette Henry.
Harmon along with Cummings and Henry have all been flagged by the Integrity Commission in the past for not declaring their assets.
Other Opposition Parliamentarians named in the list by the Commission are PNC Vice Chairman Shurwayne Holder, Deonarine Ramsaroop, Vinceroy Jordan and Devin Sears. Charandass 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, no MPs from the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government’s side were flagged by the Integrity Commission as being in default. However, several senior officials at various state agencies were flagged.
These include 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.
Additionally, civil service defaulters included Public Works Ministry Permanent Secretary Vladim Persaud, Chief Medical Officer Dr Narine Singh, Guyana’s Ambassador to China Choo An Yin and Guyana’s Ambassador to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), George Talbot. Former Director of the Food and Drugs Department, Dr Marlan Cole, was also flagged.
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.
