MINISTER of Legal Affairs and Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, S.C., has said that with all of the ‘checks and balances’ in Guyana’s constitution functional and functioning, Guyana has itself an accountable, transparent and democratic government.
He made these remarks during an airing of his programme, ‘Issues in the News,’ during which he took the time to speak on the fundamental pillars of democracy.
He said: “Democracy is not only free and fair elections, but also involves governing in a particular manner, governing with true accountability, true transparency and in a responsible manner and that includes the enactment of laws that would ensure transparent governance and accountable governance.”
Nandlall posited that from August 2020 to now, one would see all the elements of accountable, responsible and transparent governance with all the checks and balances in the constitution functioning.
Against this backdrop, he added that the various service commissions are there, the Auditor General’s office is functioning and operating independently, the parliament is functioning and the judicial branch is functioning independently of the executive.
Giving that overview, the Attorney General expressed, “What we have in Guyana is an accountable, transparent, democratic government.”
He went on to note that several protocols have been established by the government to ensure that there is transparency at every level.
Giving one such example, he noted that the cabinet which is chaired by the President himself brings together permanent secretaries and places them before Cabinet to have discussions in respect of an accountable, transparent and democratic government.
As such, every minister is required as per the instruction of the President to meet with the senior management team of their respective ministries and ensure that project time frames are met and laws which govern procurement and the execution of contracts, are scrupulously followed.
He said: “We have established a unit within each ministry and the unit at the Attorney General Chambers to address the issue of breach of contracts… the government’s infrastructural development programme. On a regular basis, the President himself would meet management teams from the various ministries and public corporations such as GWI, GuySuCo and, of course, the various ministries, top managers, and speak to them directly about their conduct, about accountable governance and the behaviour and to ensure that the laws of the country are complied with, and to speak obviously about corruption, about allegations of corruption, etcetera.”
This, AG Nandlall said is not a one-off activity but a continuous part of governance in which the government is engaged.
Additionally, he indicated that the President, Vice President and government ministers have been travelling to all regions, as well meeting with officials who deal with contracts and having similar conversations with them.
With this, he said that they understand that problems exist but the government is being proactive and doing as much as possible to ensure that as far as possible they have a responsible and transparent government in Guyana.
Source: https://issuu.com/guyanachroniclee-paper/docs/guyana_chronicle_epaper_07_07_2020