Dear Editor,
I have retrieved the 3-page draft Code of Conduct for all ministers of government, etc, which was published on November 6 for public input from the website
www.motp.gov.gy<http://www.motp.gov.gy>. I note that it refers variably to ministers, members of parliament, public office holders, officials and staff. It is not clear if all sections are intended to apply to all these categories and that the drafter has simply left out by mistake some categories from some clauses. There is no direct reference to the Civil Service code; see
http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/un/unpan023199.pdf; the Integrity Commission Act (Cap 26:01 of 1997, formerly labelled as Cap19:12 of 1997, section 27 and schedule 2, pages 34-36 which contain the Civil Service Code of Conduct, http://legalaffairs.gov.gy/information/laws-of-guyana/559-chapter-2601-integrity-commission; and http://unpan1.un.org/ intradoc/groups/public/documents/un/unpan023199.pdf. It does not appear that the draft Code from the Ministry of the Presidency has been harmonised with the Civil Service code, or deliberately differentiated from it.
The draft Code could be read to indicate that a person to whom the Code applies could receive unlimited numbers of gifts of up to G$10,000 each time.
As the Code is still in draft, the ministry staff may find it helpful to adapt the Code of Conduct for Ministers in Singapore, last revised in 2005
(http://publicofficialsfinancialdisclosure.worldbank.org/sites/fdl/files/assets/law-library-files/Singapore_Code%20of%20Conduct%20for%20Ministers_2005_en.pdf) and see also https://www.cscollege. gov.sg/Knowledge/ethos/Ethos%20-%20Issue%2013,%20June%202014/Pages/The%20Value%20of%20Values%20in%20the%20Singapore%20Public%20Service.aspx. The staff college of the Singapore Public Service has a good and rigorous reputation and would be a good source of adaptable text for revision of the Ministerial and Civil Service Codes of Conduct for Guyana.
Yours faithfully,
Janette Bulkan
