The art of the smokescreen

Source

October 29,2016

An old political trick when you are under siege is to create a political diversion. It is a tactic well known in the military. The APNU+AFC government is under the microscope for corruption. What better way to detract from these concerns than to find a few political scapegoats?

This is the only interpretation which can be read into recent statements that the government is moving to establish special prosecution teams to investigate the establishment of a housing scheme for top former government officials, popularly known as Pradoville 2.

Prosecution teams do not investigate; they prosecute. Audit reports may point to irregularities, and it is for the police to investigate these irregularities, not some politically appointed body.

If it is a crime for the former government to sell lands at Pradoville 2 at below what some people feel are market prices, then it has to be also illegal for the same government to have distributed those house lots at subsidized prices. It means that all those house lots are likely to be up for revaluation and, even possibly, repossession.

And what about the lands that the present government has distributed at even lower prices than what the past government distributed? Is anyone going to be charged for selling those lands below market prices?

The whole exercise about prosecution is a political charade. The government will be accused of a political witch hunt. The professionals within the government should not discredit their reputations by attempting to be part of this red herring that is being proposed by the government.

The government has better things to do than to engage in this form of behaviour. There is serious work to be done. Right now all the agreements that are being signed are agreements which were negotiated under the PPPC regime. The government has to begin to negotiate its own agreements. It should not be sidetracked by political shenanigans.

Next we learn that there is a problem with procurement at the Ministry of Health, and Cabinet has taken a decision to appoint an investigation into the charges. There was widespread public pressure on the government, earlier this year, to appoint a COI into the rental of storage bond by the same Ministry. That option was not pursued. Instead, a forty–eight hour report was prepared by a team of Cabinet members. Now we are learning about an investigation into the Ministry’s procurement.

Why did such a matter have to go to Cabinet? Ministries have their own limits. Contracts of a certain value have to receive a no-objection from Cabinet. Why then is there a need for an administrative matter of this nature to reach cabinet? Why could it not be dealt with administratively? Why have an investigation? Just call in the police.

All of these things seem like red herrings to deflect attention from what is taking place in the administration. It all seems like an attempt to divert attention away from the ill-findings of the Annual Report of the Office of the Auditor General into the public accounts of Guyana.

It is an old political trick to fry a few small fish just to make it look as if the government is serious about corruption. It is an old political ploy to go after the opposition to divert attention from the problems within the government.

Apart from diverting attention from itself, the government may be attempting to influence the outcome of the PPPC’s forthcoming Congress. The government is running scared of Bharrat Jagdeo, and it may be trying to discredit and humiliate him in the run-up to the Congress of the party which is due soon.

The government’s timing and tactics are questionable. Elections are three and one half years away. The political dynamics of this country are of such that one cannot be certain what will happen within that period. The government may therefore be ‘playing its hand’ too early in the political season.

It is a dumb tactic. Any investigation or charges now will provide the PPP with support for its Congress. The charges will become a rallying and unifying cry at the forthcoming Congress.

There are more important things on the public’s mind than witnessing a political carnival.