The Peoples Progressive Party (PPP) is alarmed over the 12-month transitory period it may take to rehire new leaders of the controversial State Assets Recovery Agency (SARA).
According to the parliamentary Opposition, this long waiting time vindicates its position that the entity has very little to do with justice, but is driven by an agenda that is pregnant with political vengeance and discrimination.
Guyana Times reported on Saturday that the Director of SARU can remain at the helm of the entity for up to twelve months after President David Granger assents to the recently passed SARA Bill 2017 – which puts the legal framework in place for the organisation’s operation.
“This position of the Government has confirmed what we said from the inception: that SARA will be an agency staffed by politicians and imbued with a political mandate to witch-hunt, persecute, harass and intimidate identified segments of our population; that SARA has very little to do with justice, but is driven by an agenda overwhelmed with political vengeance and discrimination,” the party said in a statement on Saturday.
The PPP has posited that: “It is now obvious that members of the Government who spoke on the SARA Bill in the National Assembly (have) blatantly lied to the nation when they all assured in their speeches that politicians would not staff this agency; that professional investigators will; and that appointments will only be made via the parliamentary process outlined in the Bill.”
Intensified
The PPP has said its opposition to SARA is now intensified. “Not only are we opposed to the Bill itself – which, as we have said, is unconstitutional and exposes private property to arbitrary interference and confiscation — but we now express our vehement opposition to the persons who will now staff the agency,” the Party has emphasised.
The PPP maintains that the current personnel at SARA are political hacks who are devoid of any law enforcement and investigative training and qualifications required for the task of operating SARA.
“They certainly do not qualify as “fit and proper” persons, as prescribed by both the SARA Bill and the President’s public pronouncement on the characteristics of a “fit and proper” person,” the PPP has said.
According to the PPP, it is well known that Clive Thomas and other senior officials are leading politicians within the coalition Administration, and that they have repeatedly made public statements that are conclusive of the guilt of dozens of Guyanese without any investigation.
“In fact, Clive Thomas, who is identified to act as the Director, has already indicated that he has a list of private properties in respect of which he will seek court orders. It begs the questions: How was this list compiled? On what basis were these properties identified? Since SARU (never had, and currently does not have) investigative powers, who did investigations which led to the conclusion that these properties are stolen state assets?” the PPP has questioned.
Support
The PPP has said it supports any initiative which is genuinely intended to recover stolen state assets and investigate corruption in public office. “However, we maintain resolutely that SARA has nothing to do with either of those objectives. We hope (that) by the Bill itself, the lies peddled in the National Assembly, the shutting down of the debates on the Bill in the National Assembly, and now the indication that politicians who have clearly demonstrated vindictive proclivities will staff the agency, some Guyanese and some in the international community would have realized that they have been terribly misled on this matter,” the PPP has stated.
Transition
The SARA Bill stipulates that its director should be an impartial person selected by a parliamentary bipartisan committee. However, this newspaper understands that the incumbent director can remain with the entity for up to another 12 months, until the relevant authorities embark on the selection process for a new head.
This is according to the SARU Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Aubrey Heath-Retemeyer, who spoke to this publication on Friday.
Heath-Retemeyer said a transition period follows the presidential assent of the SARA Bill 2017, during which critical decisions will be made regarding the structure and operation of the entity.
“During that transition period, the present personnel in the unit will remain. There will be an attempt to ensure recruitment is done, so that other elements of (the) unit will be put in place so we can get on with what is required of us,” he explained.
Heath-Retemeyer disclosed that the transition period can last from 6 moths to 12 months, during which the current top officials can remain in positions of authority at SARU, now renamed SARA.
