ETHICS IN ADMINISTRATION

In 1961 the PPP was elected as the government for the second time, 1957 being the first. My father, Ram Karran, was appointed a Minister of the Government in both 1957 and 1961. On this latter occasion I distinctly recall that in December, 1961, a large number of Christmas gifts were delivered to our home. […]

WHERE’S THE EVIDENCE?

For several decades the Government’s response to allegations of the existence of corruption was: Where’s the evidence? This response served to close down such allegations. Rarely, if ever, are such allegations, when courageously made, referred to the Police. In Guyana, and many other developing countries for that matter, such allegations are treated as political attacks, […]

GOVERNMENT SHOULD ACT ON THE UN REPORT

In 2012, in an article in the PPP’s Mirror newspaper, I argued that while the Government had done much to curb corruption, the time had come to consider additional preventative measures. The exponential growth of public expenditure, I suggested, provided fertile soil for the growth of corruption which had by that time become “pervasive.” I […]

URGENT REFORMS

Yesterday’s online edition of SN contained four separate articles about oil, the most important of which were reports of speeches by the Canadian High Commissioner and the United States Ambassador. In her farewell address, Ms. Lilian Chaterjee said that Guyana lacked the labour force needed for the ‘explosive’ oil-linked growth that is coming. The US […]

IT’S TIME FOR AN ENFORCEABLE MINISTERIAL CODE OF CONDUCT

The UK Home Secretary, Priti Patel, was accused of violating the Ministerial Code of Conduct by bullying staff. Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, appointed Sir Alex Allan, the Government’s independent adviser on standards, to investigate the allegations. He found them to be true. The Prime Minister rejected the conclusion and no action was taken against Ms. […]