Corruption high and low

Sep 16, 2024 Editorial

Kaieteur News – The Agriculture Ministry is quickly gaining notoriety as one of the most corrupt state entities in this country. It is not a good reputation for any ministry or agency let alone agriculture, which has responsibility for several subsectors. Agriculture as we know has been essential for human survival throughout history, and it remains the backbone of many nations’ economies. As the world has evolved and developed, the necessity of agriculture has also expanded far beyond the importance of farming to include key sub-sectors like forestry, beekeeping and more. Given the vastness of the agricultural sector, from small-scale subsistence farming to large commercial plantations, understanding the sector’s value chain to map appropriate corruption risks and anti-corruption measures must be a priority for President Irfaan Ali as well as the current Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha who clearly looks out of his depth in the management of the sector.  Almost every week the nation is regaled with allegations of corruption at all levels and at every agency that falls within this ministry. From the scandalous procurement of pump, to the corrupt award of contracts, to the theft of sugar at Rose Hall estate to the smuggling of chicken, you name it, it is all happening at that ministry.

Only recently the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) documented another allegation of corruption at the MMAADA. Quoting what it described as usually reliable sources, the party said that there is an impending cover-up of what is deemed to be a massive corruption scheme perpetrated by several staff members at the MMA/ADA in Region #5. According to the PNCR this corruption scheme has been active for a few years and that records of the misappropriation of millions of dollars could be found in the finance department.

What is said to be the misappropriation of funds took place between inside staff and several contractors linked to the agency who requisitioned for work that was never done and in many cases, works that were significantly overvalued. And if that were not enough, within days of the PNCR’s expose, news broke of two officials at the Guyana Marketing Corporation being fingered in yet another scam. The head of that agency had ordered an audit as well as an investigation and it is yet to be seen what will come out of this. Former director of the GuySuCo board Anthony Vieira is also on record exposing some of the shenanigans at that failed entity.

What is unfolding at the Agriculture Ministry is symptomatic of the general atmosphere in the government. We are nearing the fifth year of the PPP/C in government, which has provided a reality check in this regard for Guyanese. Despite the promises made by the PPP/C during the 2020 elections campaign, not much has been done to change the minds of Guyanese that they are a better bunch than the APNU/AFC. The same old malady that afflicted it during the 23 years it was in government prior to 2015 continues to fester. Corruption in high and low places cannot be separated from the PPP/C and the recent revelations by the United States Government, which sanctioned one of the party’s young high flyers confirmed what everyone had been talking about for years.

It is instructive to note that only recently, General Secretary of the PPP/C and Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo was at a press conference sermonizing that the media and the opposition were distorting the party’s record and image and that they will have to fight back. At the said press conference he spoke about how the media would accuse it of being corrupt and this was not so and as such he was deploying “trolls” to help counter the narrative that the government was corrupt. It did not take too long for the US to hand down the sanctions so that the full scale of the corruption that has dogged the party is revealed. Right in its bosom there is Mae Thomas a permanent secretary and also a member of the party’s Central Committee. Among other things, the US Government accused her of collecting bribes from business people in exchange for contracts as well as selling gun permits and passports. These are very serious allegations. Guyanese are yet to see any serious attempt by the Guyana Police Force to probe the allegations that came out of the Vice News interview that implicated Jagdeo in corruption.

Sadly it seems as though the people of this nation will forever be exposed to blatant contempt by those in authority. If we are to go by the daily reports in the newspapers of the unpleasant doings of some of our politicians, the truth of that observation cannot be contradicted. Morality, it would appear, is insignificant. It used to be that the often complained moral lapse of politicians was in the realm of the acquisition of power. “Machiavelli” was the name invoked to describe the notion that one should be prepared to walk over one’s grandmother to achieve (and keep) office. Some justified this sort of behaviour by saying that the followers of “The Prince” were actually “amoral” and not “immoral”.

• Bharrat Jagdeo, GUYSUCO, Minister of Agriculture, PNCR’s expose, Zulfikar Mustapha