Dear Editor,
The Government of Guyana is probably the only government in the world which encounters opposition to its initiatives to ensure greater accountability and integrity in the conduct of public service.
At the same time, when some people who should be the last become the first in
lecturing the government about probity and the tenets of good governance it becomes a tragi-comedy. Some claim this is the price that must be paid so long as there is a commitment to democracy. Fine, I don’t suppose any democrat – liberal, conservative or socialist would have a problem with such praxis. The problem arises with the genre of the person or persons who seek to elevate themselves onto the moral high ground on such matters. Moreover, it is rather hilarious if not amusing to see such persons casting the first stone.
Here is my point: the government announces that integrity testing will be an integral part of the public service integrity testing framework, the objective being to address the frailties of the human factor.
Up springs ‘Pat in the box’ and declares his opposition to integrity testing. Now who on earth would want to oppose integrity testing when almost every day ordinary people complain about corruption and the need to pay a bribe to get things done within certain levels of the public service? Is Mr Yarde saying that this particular, if not critical sector of the government apparatus must be insulated from integrity testing?
Surely, the answer cannot be as Mr Yarde claims, to make integrity testing conditional – ie, to subject government ministers and permanent secretaries to such tests. Mr Yarde and his ilk must know that this is a mere smokescreen to hide their real intentions. But it is precisely here that politics become apparent and Mr Yarde reveals his cloven hooves. Like so many of his type who are caught up in the maelstrom of conspiracy theories, Mr Yarde makes the impossible become the possible when he declares whimsically that integrity tests will be used as a tool to “dismiss people randomly.”
Wow! How much more ridiculous and cynical can prominent people in our country get?
True to his well-established but fast-fading track record, Mr Yarde made no serious attempt to fathom what integrity testing is all about; on the contrary, he dashed off to join the political bandwagon of critics, cynics and pessimists whose flavour of the day is to spout anti-government diatribe.
Contrary to Mr Yarde’s description of the polygraph “as retrograde, unenlightened, and a dictatorial imposition,” for the benefit of readers and more particularly, MrYarde here is the lay person’s understanding of polygraph.
1. The term polygraphy is commonly known as the lie detector test.
2. Body functions are of two categories: voluntary and involuntary. The voluntary ones are the body movements we control, and the involuntary functions are the body movements we do not control. Voluntary actions include dancing, climbing, singing, etc; involuntary actions include the heartbeat, sweating and breathing.
A polygraph measures the involuntary functions of the body. The test uses sensitive devices to detect the changes in heart rate, sweating and breathing when answering questions. It is based on measuring the involuntary movements that take place when fear is being experienced about the discovering of untruths. Telling lies causes a fear of being detected. Fear causes the involuntary movements of the heart (BP), the sweat glands (sweating) and breathing (respiratory rate).
In the test, a baseline is obtained during neutral questioning then the questions that are important are asked and answered to which may be untruths. The question is repeated three times leading to a 2-3 hour procedure. The key is to tell the truth and avoid having to lie which is usually detected.
I am sorry I could not do more to help Mr Yarde understand and appreciate the basic tenets of polygraphy, but this much I can do: for more information please contact the Academy of Polygraph Science Latin America, Inc at www.abhpoIVQraphscience.com.
Yours faithfully,
Clement J. Rohee
Minister
