Dear Editor,
I learnt that my political brethren in the coalition are up in arms and have come out swinging against the announcement of investigations at 19 state agencies. In their outrage, they have used some sharp words like “witch hunt” and “witch hunt squad” to derogate the investigations development. These are my thoughts, as I beg to differ and depart from that position.
I agree to some extent with two of the reactions of the coalition to the pending investigations. The first is that the timing is almost immediately upon the assumption of and installation in office. It certainly has an abrasive and jarring texture to it; and I suppose that it is based on timing alone and nothing else. On balance, it might be better to strike while the days are young and the irons are hot, before the savvy and sophisticated decide to rewrite the stories and rearrange the condition and existence of related files. However, some significant sums of public monies were spent in recent months (and before) and the air needs to be cleared and sanitized as to the authenticity of those contracts and circumstances. Based on this alone, I must come out in support of the
investigations, despite misgivings on the timing (and arguably righteous indignation notwithstanding).
Second, the coalition spoke about the terms of reference and I agree that those should be specified and made known at the earliest moment. Regarding “selection criteria” I could care less with what went into that, or about any considerations that went into the identification and selection of the 4-man team. This is how these things have worked around here for the longest while; it is too much of Guyanese political culture to complain today.
Editor, as I write supporting the investigations, I remind everyone of a longstanding position of mine: when things are done right and always in plain sight, then that body of work speaks for itself, and withstands any scrutiny from any quarter. Whoever is interested, and whatever it is, should feel free to bring out their best weapons, the heaviest artillery, to delve to the bottom of matters. To put differently, I urge the 4-man team to pursue the facts and truths, wherever they lead, and let the chips fall publicly. If there is nothing to hide, then there is nothing to fear. My invitation would be and is: give it the best shot. This has always been my position, and it is even more rigidly unchanging now.
It was my standard and appeal when the PPP was in government pre-2015; it was identical during the tenure of the coalition in the last few years. Secrecy and subterfuges have deposited us in one quagmire and controversy (cesspool) after another. We must be serious and consistent about wrongdoing by anyone at anytime and anywhere. The taxpaying public, the long-suffering citizens of this society, is due some honesty. My recommendation to the new government would be to hold, maintain, and deliver a similar standard of dedication to openness and fairness, accuracy and integrity from its own people, and at every level now that it has returned to office. Anything less would be destructive.
For all the above reasons, I say this: let the investigations begin. Let them lead wherever they do. Then let us go from there.
Yours faithfully,
GHK Lall
