The Integrity Commission has revealed that as of February 21, 2020, seven Government and 14 Opposition Members of Parliament (MPs) are still delinquent in providing the Commission with further particulars relating to their financial affairs for the period July 01, 2017, to June 30, 2018.
Through a notice published in the Official Gazette today, the Commission said that pursuant to Section 19 of the Integrity Commission Act, the MPs are in non-compliance of Section 18 of the aforesaid Act.
Those from the Government’s side who have failed to fulfill their legal duty are Director-General of the Ministry of the Presidency, Joseph Harmon; Minister of Health Volda Lawrence; Minister of Business, Dominic Gaskin; Minister within the Ministry of Communities, Annette Ferguson; Minister of Social Protection, Amna Ally; Minister of Indigenous Peoples Affairs, Sydney Allicock; and Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson. Also on the list is expelled Alliance for Change (AFC) Parliamentarian, Charrandass Persaud.
The delinquents on the Opposition side include Bharrat Jagdeo, Mohabir Nandlall, Frank Anthony, Jennifer Westford, Priya Manickchand, Pauline Sukhai, Vickram Bharrat, Dharamkumar Seeraj, Gillian Persaud, Harry Gill, Vishwa Mahadeo, Clement Rohee and Nigel Dharamlall.
Also, there is a public official listed as Mohamed Irfaan Au. Although the name is similar to that of the Presidential Candidate of the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C), Mohamed Irfaan Ali, Guyana Standard was unable to verify if the person referred to in the Official Gazette, is indeed him.
Section 19 of the Integrity Commission Act which was passed in 1997 states: “Where a person who is required to do so fails to file a declaration in accordance with this Act or to furnish particulars under Section 18, the Commission of the President, as the case may be, shall publish the fact in the Gazette and in the daily newspaper.’’
As it relates to Section 18 that reads: “The Commission or the President, as in the case may be, may in writing request a declarant to furnish particulars relating to his financial affairs as may be considered necessary for the purpose of Section 17 (b) and the declarant shall comply with the request within the time specified therefor by the Commission or the President, as the case may be.”
According to Section 17 (b) of the said Act, “The Commission or the President, as the case may be, shall—make such inquiries as she or he considers necessary in order to verify or determine the accuracy of the financial affairs, as stated in the declarations of persons were are required to file declaration under this Act.”
Pursuant to Section 41 (1) of that very Act, “Where a person who is or was a person in public life, or any other person on his behalf, is found to be in possession of property or pecuniary resource disproportionate to the known sources of income of the first-mentioned person, and that person fails to produce satisfactory evidence to prove that the possession of the property or pecuniary resource was acquired by lawful means, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable, on summary conviction, to a fine and to
imprisonment for a term of not less than six months nor more than three years.”
For too very long, the Integrity Commission has been complaining about public officials failing to comply with their obligations under the Act. As a consequence, the Commission which has publicly stated that it is experiencing financial difficulties has been forced to publicly identify defaulters via ads in the daily newspaper as well as the Official Gazette.
