Former Opposition Leader, Joseph Harmon, alongside nine other former and current Opposition Parliamentarians and various government officials are among those who failed to submit their 2022 declarations to the Integrity Commission.
There are 84 defaulters, according to a notice published by the Integrity Commission in the Saturday edition of the Guyana Chronicle newspaper.
Ten Members of Parliament (current and former) are listed as defaulters; they are all part of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and Alliance For Chance (AFC) parties in the opposition.
Those defaulters are: Harmon, Khemraj Ramjattan, Dawn Hastings- Williams, Dr. Nicolette Henry, Dr. Karen Cummings, Sherod Duncan, Shurwayne Holder, Deonarine Ramsaroop, Vinceroy Jordan and Devin Sears.
Aside from the current or former Parliamentarians, a number of government officials have also failed to declare their assets.
Director of the Local Content Secretariat, Martin Pertab; Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Narine Singh; Solicitor General, Nigel Hawke; Director of Culture, Tamika Boatswain; Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs, Ryan Toolsiram and Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Public Works, Vladim Persaud are some of the officials who did not declare their assets.
Additionally, Guyana’s Ambassador to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), George Talbot; former High Commissioner to India, Charrandass Persaud; Consul General in Suriname, Mitradevi Ali and Guyana’s Ambassador to China, Anyin Choo are among officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who did not submit their declarations.
In May, the Integrity Commission issued a warning to public officers who have not submitted their 2022 declarations.
The Commission said then that only 663 persons had submitted declarations out of 1,491 specified public officers. Statutory declarations for 2022 were originally due on August 31, 2022 but an extension was granted up to December 31, 2022.
In its new notice naming defaulters, the Commission said the 84 officials are asked to submit their 2022 Declaration Form on or before July 31, 2023.
If the officials continue to fail to submit their declarations, persons can face a $25,000 fine alongside six to 12 months imprisonment. Further failure constitutes a continuing offence and the person will be fined $10,000 for each day the offence continues.
