Anti-corruption oversight needed over Guyana’s town, neighbourhood councils

Last Updated on Tuesday, 25 October 2022, 15:53 by Denis Chabrol

As Guyanese prepare to vote in Local Government Elections (LGE) early next year, there are calls for greater oversight of the town and neighbourhood councils to cut out graft and other forms of corruption.

In Quito, the capital of the sister South American nation of of Ecuador, there is an independent mechanism called Quito Honesto that keeps a watchful eye over that municipality of more than 2 million persons. The head of Quito Honesto is appointed by the Mayor who can be investigated by that body or police called in if there is sufficient evidence.

President of the Metropolitan Commission for the Fight Against Corruption Dr Mauricio Riofrio Cuadrado said the aim is to inculcate a public integrity culture of ethics, transparency among the citizens. He said there must be determination by elected officials to push an agenda to fight corruption which is inherent to humans. “It can be mitigated with enough political will with honesty and transparency,” he told Latin American and Caribbean journalists who participated in a Regional Infrastructure Tour.

Local Government Elections are scheduled for March 13, 2022.

However, in Guyana there is no such oversight but the Central government periodically cites a number of local councils for inefficiency, mismanagement and alleged corruption.

But the Mayor of Georgetown Ubraj Narine believed that short of appointing its own watchdog the municipality of approximately 25,000 persons should seek out civil society to oversee governance. “That shouldn’t be for the civil society alone. I agree with such a group; civil society should be part of the government as well and I believe that the private sector should also pay keen attention because of civil society is necessary for accountability and transparency ultimately,” he said. Mr Narine said he favours such a committee should have the powers to investigate allegations of corruption and have the power to sanction errant office holders.

At City Hall, there is a Tender and Procurement Committee made up of five to seven councillors and the City Engineer, the Head of the Solid Waste Management Department and the Town Clerk. Mr Narine, however, said the opposition People’s Progressive Party Civic City Councilors seldom attend committee meetings but they are provided with the agenda and minutes. In the end, he said it is the full council that has to scrutinise and approve the reports from the municipality’s Tender and Procurement Committee. “We can’t let one or two councillors from the other side hold back the work of the council and that report has to go to full council for a majority vote,” he added.

Mr Narine is not optimistic that Central Government will amend the relevant local government laws to allow for the creation of an oversight and investigative body in the City, nine other towns and 70 neighbourhood councils countrywide. He is using, as a barometer, the apparent refusal of the Minister to sign off on council-approved by-laws for stiffer penalties against litter bugs. “We cannot do that internally.

Minister of Local Government Nigel Dharamlall was not immediately available for comment.

However, President of the Transparency Institute of Guyana Inc. Frederick Collins disagrees that a representative of his organisation should be appointed to provide such an oversight over the award of contracts by town and neighbourhood councils unless there is a change in legislation. “It has to do more with the will to move towards a meritocratic society than anything else. All activities where authorities are concerned in this country appear to be to be the need to reward materially  friends, family and those who have in some way awarded favours to the organisation and that motive is a killer for any involvement by anybody else,” he said. Mr Collins forecast that only the reason that civil society will be rejected is because there are “too many eyes”.

Mr Collins said there are already mechanisms in place to “lean on and depend on” if the political actors cease their control of institutions in order to hide the truth and increase public trust.

Quito Honesto’s Dr Cuadrado said there is a procurement system for projects and services that cost more than US$1 million. After the award, there are follow-up reviews and reports to identify and resolve flaws. “We are trying to stop the landslide and the disaster that corruption brings and this is a way of doing that,” he said.

Quito Honesto also receives real-time complaints, including videos with their smart phones, confidentially.

Quito Honesto is funded by the municipality, its head is appointed by the Mayor and representatives are drawn from the university, civil society and the business community.