Vice News on Sunday evening streamed an ‘undercover’ documentary titled ‘Guyana For Sale,’ and since then, there have been allegations that Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo may be using his Government office for his personal gain.
These allegations have prompted Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton to call on the senior Government official to make his assets known to the public if he wants to regain credibility.
In an emergency press conference on Monday, Norton said once the Vice President can “take the asset he has accumulated, put it in the public domain and put it against his income and if it can stand scrutiny, then he doesn’t have to worry.”
He added, “if it can’t stand scrutiny, then it will add to his case that of allegation of corruption against the Vice President.” However, Norton is of the view that Dr Jagdeo would not do that.
But importantly, back in February, Jagdeo made it clear that the Integrity commission knows all his assets.
The Integrity commission act mandates that every person in the public eye submit a declaration of their finances on or before June 30 annually or “where such person ceases to be a person in public life, within thirty days from the date on which the person ceases to be a person in public life.”
To this end, Norton has also accused the Government of not wanting authentic information to get out there, which they believed prevented the interview from being aired locally.
He has also called for an impartial investigation into the alleged corruption and posited that it might not be the best choice to have that done locally.
Failure to do so may suggest that the PPP/C Government condones bribery, Norton added. At the Government level, Norton wants President Irfaan Ali to take action to “bring a halt to every accusation of corruption in Government” and wants Vice President Jagdeo to resign.
But President Ali, in some sections of the media, has challenged VICE News to air the full undercover documentary, which he noted will reveal the false narratives.
