Time for decisive action against ministers who breach Code of Conduct

Troy Thomas

It is time that government honours its commitment to promote transparency and accountability by taking “decisive” action against ministers who breach the Code of Conduct guidelines, President of the Transparency Institute of Guyana Inc (TIGI) Troy Thomas says.

He is also urging the public to take evidence of conflict of interest to the Integrity Commission.

“The political culture…is to defend as far as possible so when these things happen, we don’t want to let people face whatever sanctions…we try to defend and I think that’s what going on in the political arena so…I don’t know if there is any strong will on the part of the government itself to address those situations decisively,” Thomas told the Sunday Stabroek recently.

He has been outspoken on the recent conflict of interest claims swirling around Ministers Catherine Hughes and Valerie Adams-Yearwood. Other observers have also spoken of government’s lax approach in dealing with those matters.