Senior police and Department of Energy (DoE) officials are to be added to the list of public officers required to declare their assets and liabilities to the Integrity Commission, the constitutional body’s Chairman Kumar Doraisami says.
And with less than half of those required to do so, filing their declarations thus far, the body is moving to take legal action, he said at the commission’s inaugural press conference yesterday.
The commission, which was reconstituted almost a year ago, has sent out a total of 1306 declaration forms, out of which 716 are yet to be returned. Legal action will be pursued, and this is expected to coincide with next month’s employment of a legal/compliance officer and the publication of the names of all the defaulters, Doraisami said.
According to the Integrity Commission Act, every person who is a person in public life, not being a member of the Commission, is required to file a declaration every year on or before June 30th and in cases where such persons cease to be a person in public life, within 30 days from the date on which the person ceases to be a person in public life.
Doraisami yesterday emphasised the importance of ensuring the integrity of public officials and informed of plans to have senior police ranks and DoE officials included among those required to declare their assets and liabilities.
He said that the commission reviewed Schedule 1 of the Act, which lists those public officers who are supposed to declare their assets to the commission by June 30th each year. He said it was recommended that the Schedule be enlarged to accommodate Deputy Police Commissioners, Assistant Commissioners, Divisional Commanders, Traffic Chiefs and Crime Chiefs of each division, the Registrar of Lands, the Deputy Registrar of Lands, the Assistant Registrar of Lands, the Deputy Registrar of Deeds, the Assistant Registrar of Deeds, the Commercial Registrar, the Deputy Commercial Registrar and the Assistant Commercial Registrar.
Additionally, in keeping with anti-money laundering legislation, he said that officials from the Financial Intelligence Unit, the Special Organised Crime Unit, and the State Assets Recovery Agency should also be included.
In responding to a question on the energy sector, he explained that as it develops, DoE officials will have to be added to the list.
“Right now, the Department of Energy is not functioning fully. We haven’t produced a drop of oil yet… I think it’s till next year we are supposed to produce oil and once that department gets functioning fully, we’ll be aware of all the public officials who are involved in it…,” he said when asked why the commission is not inclined to immediately include energy officials on the list that will be sent to the Prime Minister for approval. Doraisami said that it is expected that when fully operational, the Ministry of the Presidency will submit names of the officials to the commission and a recommendation would be made for them to be added to the existing list.
He disclosed that forms and letters were sent to 1306 declarants, out of which 590 were returned and 716 are defaulters. As prescribed in the law, the names of the defaulters were published in the Official Gazette and in a daily newspaper.
So far, five lists have been published and two more pertaining to the members of the Judiciary and the Ministry of Finance will soon be released.
In giving a breakdown, Doraisami said that out of the 87 names on the first list, 41 declarations are outstanding. That list was published in November last year and contained the names of 15 ministers, the Speaker of the National Assembly and opposition Members of Parliament. He said that out of the 80 names in the second publication, 19 declaration forms are
outstanding. That list contained the names of defaulting Guyana Revenue Authority officials. Of the 86 persons in the third publication, 73 have failed to submit their forms. That list was published on December 8th and included the names of errant regional officials in all ten administrative regions.
Regarding the fourth list, Doraisami said that 159 names were published out of which 132 forms are still outstanding. This list, published on January 13th, included Bank of Guyana Governor Dr Gobind Ganga, Audit Director (ag) Audrey Badley and councillors from nine of the ten Regional Democratic Councils.
Fifth list
The fifth list comprised 66 names, including those of diplomats and Ministry of the Presidency staff and according to Doraisami, 50 declaration forms are still outstanding. “If they don’t make the declarations, the Commission will not be able to secure their integrity,” he stressed.
The Integrity Commission chief said that if these defaulters do not comply, the next stage is prosecution. Notwithstanding, he said, the commission will continue publication for now. He observed that some officials are not inclined to submit. “We have a situation where only 50 per cent of the people in the judiciary have submitted,” he said.
Doraisami made it clear that the commission is in no position to use its discretion as to whether names should be published. He said that if officials have an issue with the publication of their names, they can take legal action.
Meanwhile, he said that so far, they have not received any information about any public official accepting “gifts.” He said that the commission can only commence an investigation if such a complaint is received. “People holding public office must be accountable to the people who pay them their money,” he said.
In terms of its finances, the chairman informed that this year, the commission submitted an $88 million budget for the running of the office but only $45 million and $2.5 million for current and capital respectively, were approved. These sums, he said, are woefully inadequate. He said that the commission will need money for training and public awareness programmes, participation in an annual conference abroad and the hiring of additional staff. In this regard, additional monies will have to be secured through a supplementary budget. For 2018, the commission received $21 million and $3.5 million for current and capital expenditure respectively.
Earlier in the press conference, Doraisami had observed that the commission was assented to on the 24th of December 1997, and is a corporate body governed by the Integrity Commission Act. “It makes provisions for the purpose of securing the integrity of persons in public life. This commission is looking at corruption in the public office not private. The whole Act is about people in public office,” he said.
The chairman related that a review of the Act was previously done, and the consultant recommended that it be a constitutional commission and not created via an Act of Parliament as it currently is. He reminded that subsequently, a committee was set up to look at the code of conduct and this was redrafted and published in the Official Gazette in July 2017. He said that the vision is “to improve public confidence in the integrity of holders of public office,” and the objective is “to secure the integrity of persons in public life through their compliance with the provision of the Integrity Commission Act.”
So far, 12 statutory meetings along with other meetings were held. The commission tries to meet at least one a week.
Doraisami was joined at the press conference by Commissioner Rosemary Benjamin-Noble who is an attorney by profession, and secretary Amanda Jaisingh. The other commissioner, Pandit Rabindranath Persaud, was absent.
Doraisami, a former judge who is now in private practice, informed that the Act provides for four other members besides the chairman. He informed that it is expected that another commissioner will be sworn in shortly. He added that the current set up is not ideal because in the absence of a member, there will be no quorum; three is needed. In such a situation, he said, no meeting could be held, and no decisions can be made.
He said that aside from a secretary, the commission employs an accountant, an administrative assistant, an office assistant, a driver, a data entry clerk and two typists. Recently, a legal/compliance officer and a cleaner were interviewed, and both are expected to be on the job next month. Additionally, there are plans to hire at least five investigators.
