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Procurement officers will face full brunt of the law if found guilty of corruption – Jagdeo
Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo
Kaieteur News – Procurement officers who are engaged in corrupt practices will face the full brunt of the law if caught, Vice President (VP) Bharrat Jagdeo on Thursday warned.
He was at the time speaking at his weekly news conference being held at Freedom House. “If you have been engage in these practices and you get caught, don’t come and later complain about you have kids or you have a party card or you belong to a party or something like that,” Jagdeo said. The VP told the media that there have been reviews and he has seen a lot written about corruption. In light of this the government has undertaken reviews at every level of the procurement system. “So let me put on notice all those people who are responsible for procurement in public corporations, statutory bodies, the ministries, regions, central ministries everywhere, all the way to the National Tender Board,” Jagdeo said.
He explained that the government is currently examining procedures for compliance and also activities for compliance with the laws. “And let me make it clear if we find that those officers are skirting the provisions of the law, the procurement law, then there shall be consequences for them.”
Jagdeo said that there are too many instances where persons have been visiting Freedom House to report discrepancies. “People win a bid and then they try after the bid has been awarded they try to change the specs on the bid. Another issue is payment for people who have done their work and fully submitted their bills and the bills have been certified, some of the accounting officers in the ministries and the clerks they keep the processing of the payment for people for days on their desk. People have to run there ten times, they’ve completed the work, they have to run 10-15 times to get money for work that they already did,” Jagdeo stressed.
Dr. Jagdeo reiterated the government’s commitment to strengthening systems to enhance transparency and accountability. Guyana operates under a robust anti-corruption framework, having ratified and committed to several international conventions:
- Inter-American Convention against Corruption (IACAC): Ratified on February 15, 2001.
- United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC): Acceded on April 16, 2008, and in force from May 16, 2008.
- Lima Commitment: Adopted in April 2018.
- UNGASS Political Declaration on Corruption: Committed in June 2021.
- CELAC Working Group on Preventing and Combating Corruption: Established in 2021.
Guyana adheres to reporting under two major anti-corruption conventions:
- IACAC under the Organisation of American States (OAS): The first global multilateral anti-corruption treaty, with the Follow-up Mechanism (MESICIC) monitoring implementation.
- UNCAC: The only legally binding universal anti-corruption instrument. Guyana has completed two reporting cycles: Cycle 1 (2010-2015) covering criminalization, law enforcement, and international cooperation; and Cycle 2 (2015-2020) covering preventive measures and asset recovery.
Further, led by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, the local National Coordinating Committee on Anti-Corruption, comprising a cross-section of government agencies, ensures compliance with international reporting obligations, capacity building, and inter-agency synergy. The NCC meets monthly, with representation from 16 agencies. The PPP/C Government’s latest initiative underscores its ongoing commitment to fighting corruption and ensuring a transparent procurement process across all governmental levels.
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