Where appointments occur in public sector agencies and even autonomous ones it goes without saying that fairness must be the ineradicable principle and the public - as a major stakeholder - has to be convinced of it. It is even more important in a society like ours gored by entrenched political and ethnic lines. Otherwise a host of troubling implications can be apprehended justly or unjustly.
Where appointments via the Public Service Commission and other service commissions are concerned the public might be soothed by virtue of the composition of the bodies and the fact that their representatives sit on them. For autonomous agencies such as the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) there is no such comfort and senior appointments would tend to fall under a cloud unless the process was clearly transparent.
Sadly, last week Saturday's announcement that retired Guyana Defence Force Colonel Chabilall Ramsarup would be appointed as supernumerary Commissioner of Customs and Trade Administration (CTA) fails the basic transparency test. Colonel Ramsarup by all accounts has done yeoman's work in the army and the Civil Defence Commission and it is unfortunate that he is now at the centre of this contretemps.
According to the original press release from the GRA announcing the decision, the agency's governing board met recently and "considered" Colonel Ramsarup's appointment following the absence of Mr Lambert Marks who had been away from work as a result of prolonged illness.
This is where a key part of the problem lies. Ever since the merger of the Customs and Excise Department and the Inland Revenue Department and the resultant formation of the GRA, the governing board of this institution has operated under a shroud of unnecessary and alarming secrecy. For the major revenue agency collecting billions of dollars per year, overseeing the flow of goods into the country and the efficient running of the tax system this is not good enough. The weak and poorly focused public relations campaign for the introduction of the Value Added Tax was an example of the problems that have arisen as a result.
For the GRA to blithely say that the governing board decided on Colonel Ramsarup's appointment without providing some understandable and reasonable basis for the move is to insult the average taxpayer who expects a much greater level of transparency from the GRA particularly as he/she would have had to be completely open about tax and other matters with the GRA.
It has long been said that the GRA board functions under the direction of persons within the Office of the President and that as a result the much vaunted autonomous functioning is a sham. The Ramsarup decision does nothing to dispel these concerns.
As pointed out by the Guyana Public Service Union, the job description for the CTA entails a minimum of 10 years experience as a customs and excise officer with progressively responsible experience of which three years must have been at the executive or administrative level, or a minimum of 10 years experience in a senior administrative capacity in the public service or a related position in trade and commerce in the private sector. These requirements do not appear to have been met.
The GRA has attempted to gloss over the concerns raised by arguing that Colonel Ramsarup's appointment is a supernumerary one and an interim arrangement. It said that the substantive holder of the post, Mr Marks has been away for work for more than two years as a result of prolonged illness and was sent on one month's annual vacation leave effective May 2 - the date that Colonel Ramsarup's appointment became effective. It then went on to say that the post was not vacant and hence there was no need for a vacancy to be advertised. It further said that with the likely "medical boarding" of Mr Marks the position will become vacant and, interestingly, "will give rise to the possible need to advertise for candidates to officially fill the position".
It then added that the board's decision was made taking various concerns into consideration, among them being the public's image of the widespread corruption in the customs department. It them proceeded to commend the deputy commissioner of the GRA and her staff "who have done a commendable job… in suppressing corruption" and added that the GRA believes that if it were to appoint a current employee to the supernumerary post it would not restore the public's confidence or lend to the credibility of the GRA's efforts to fight corruption.
First, it must be said that it was unfortunate that the CTA functioned for two years without a substantive head being in place.
These were crucial years and the GRA should have moved more expeditiously to resolve the issues surrounding Mr Marks' occupation of the post. The hasty decision to now replace Mr Marks will fuel the perception that a period propitious for the government or its chosen candidate was being awaited.
Second, it is unfathomable why a supernumerary appointment has to be made when the Deputy Director had been functioning in this post in an acting capacity for two years. To supervene her in this manner when the post may soon become vacant is to move a vote of no-confidence in her and to signal to her and others in the department that upward mobility can be unduly delayed or stopped altogether at the whims and fancies of the governing board.
Third, the argument that the appointment of an internal staffer would not nurture public confidence in light of what the GRA says is the public's image of "widespread corruption" in the customs department is both fatuous and contradictory. It is beyond belief that the GRA could expect the parachuting of Colonel Ramsarup - devoid of customs experience - into the post of CTA would in one fell swoop reverse perceptions of corruption and make its graft fighting effort more incredible. Further, if the deputy CTA, Ms Ingrid Griffith was doing a commendable job in suppressing corruption as stated in the GRA release why would the governing board unbalance these efforts by inserting someone above her?
Fourth, since when any has any decision been made or should be made solely on the basis of the public's image or perception of what is going on in the administration of important business. That is a new one on us. Forget perceptions. When scandals like the illegal sale of dolphins orchestrated from within the Office of the President go unpunished nothing else we suppose is expected to make any sense.
Fifth, it would appear from its own murmurings and its admission that files on a Toolsie Persaud Limited tax matter had disappeared, that both the customs department and internal revenue continue to be besieged by the problem of corruption as so magisterially exposed at the customs end by the Welling work of 1992/3. What is needed then is not a controversial appointment or subterfuge but substantial reform. Is this going to be done?
The only interpretation that can be placed on Colonel Ramsarup's appointment is that the government picked its candidate and pitchforked him into the important post of CTA without any concern for what was proper and transparent. That is completely unacceptable.