Stolen public assets must be recovered – Dr. Clive Thomas
‘Forensic audits geared to ensure this’ – Finance Minister
By Kiana Wilburg While the new government, A Partnership for National Unity plus Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) is
Economist, Dr. Clive Thomas
still settling in, Economist Dr. Clive Thomas, insists that it is of critical importance for attention to be placed on recovering public stolen assets. He said that the “rampant corruption under the 23-year rule of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C)” should not be ignored. Dr. Thomas stated that any new government pursuing good governance would seek to recover the nation’s assets, which were mismanaged in “some of the most despicable and corrupt ways.” The economist said if this matter is not dealt with, “we are only leaving the nation to continue on a dangerous precipice.” He emphasized too that the new administration should not fail its attempts to hold those who mismanaged and wounded the economy in so many areas, accountable. Finance Minister Winston Jordan related that he is in support of the points raised by Dr. Thomas and sought to remind that the APNU+AFC administration is determined to be a government of transparency and accountability. He reminded that there are several forensic audits to be conducted to ascertain where assets have been transferred, sold or disposed of illegally. This newspaper understands that these audits are to start very soon, before April month end, in fact. Dr. Thomas believes that in the interim, Guyanese will broadly support the view that the newly-elected
Finance Minister, Winston Jordan
government should neither misuse nor abuse state power in pursuit of witch-hunts against the PPP/C political leadership. “While I share this view entirely, I am however, equally convinced that this position would not condone a blanket or indeed other pardon for legally proven public corruption, thieving, and plundering of the nation’s wealth over recent decades. “More is at stake in this matter than the political preferences of the new government, which I expect it recognizes. A clear line must be drawn against past illicit/corrupt behaviours in order to prevent their future repetition,” Dr. Thomas said. He asserted that the corruption that has been taking place in Guyana can be deemed public and not private, because it is based on; fraudulent public procurements contracts, illegal capital flows, particularly illicit mis-invoicing of exports and imports and illicit financial transactions, and an underground economy that is driven principally by criminal endeavours; illegal evasion of taxes; and, regulatory evasion. Dr. Thomas believes that the new administration can make bountiful gains by eradicating certain practices such as the aforementioned. The economist projected that the APNU+AFC government could rake in a modest $21B in total revenues, and another $6B from PetroCaribe savings once illicit siphoning-off practices are halted. “I have also estimated that Guyana can recover almost $333-340 Billion from the areas I cited earlier, but I wish to emphasize that I cannot provide independent valuation of corrupt practices in state enterprises…So the $333-$340B estimation therefore understates the actual size of the pool of annual recoverable stolen public assets. What part of this clearly underestimated pool of stolen public assets might actually be recovered is open to speculation,” he added. The economist noted, however, that the massive scale of corruption in Guyana cannot all be attributed to the PPP/C political leadership. He said that it certainly embraces corrupt state officials and executives of state-owned enterprises, organizations, agencies and other bodies who have accepted bribes, sold influence, and generally pursued rent-seeking behaviour. “Because public corruption has been so widespread, there is a political dividend available to the new government if, but only if, the APNU+ AFC’s promise of good governance is substantially achieved in the coming years.” He said that this dividend is based on his estimation of popular expectations. Dr. Thomas then proposed a mechanism whereby the newly-elected government could, “at this unique democratic opening,” embark on seeking resources and justice for Guyanese whose national wealth has been stolen by “the greedy” in recent years. He said that this can be done through some simple steps in which the APNU+AFC administration can proceed with a stolen public assets recovery programme. He said that the first step would be to establish a public body dedicated to the initiative for recovering stolen public assets, followed by invoking Guyana’s responsibilities, duties and entitlements under the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC). That Convention came into force in 2005. Guyana acceded to it in 2008. It states that: “stolen public assets recovery is a fundamental principle of the Convention”. Further, all 175 UN Members of the Convention have formally agreed to confiscate such assets returning it to the state requesting it, “to send a message to corrupt officials that there will be no place to hide their illicit assets”. Further, Dr. Thomas said that the third step would be for the local body suggested at step one, to formally request assistance technical and otherwise as is available under UNCAC, whose implementation is supported by the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNDOC). Given the coalition origins of APNU+AFC, the economist said that for the fourth step, he would recommend that civil society organizations, especially the internationally-affiliated Human Rights Association, the local chapter of Transparency International, the Trades Union Congress, and private sector, be encouraged to participate in the initiative, as presently permitted.
