Dear Editor,
To be appointed as Ministers and Members of Parliament, and to be addressed with the elevated title “Honorary”, if you still can’t find what is an appropriate gift from the public purse, then clearly you were never fit to hold that office.
For the Leader of the Opposition to excuse unwanted spending on donations by Giftersons Ministers, by asserting that clear guidelines are needed in relation to giving, it reflects the moral bankruptcy of the APNU + AFC Alliance.
All public office holders should have an inherent moral compass to guide them on the propriety of accepting gifts. It’s common.
You are placed there to oversee taxpayers’ spending of money in a way that would enrich and improve their lives and their communities. Public money should never be spent in a personal capacity by public officials.
You will be adequately compensated through prestigious salary, Prado, housing, etc. Further, it is an electoral promise of wanting to serve the public at heart that makes one an incumbent Minister. It’s all about public service, and nothing about personal deterioration. You do not need guidelines to tell you that once you have held a high public office, it is inappropriate to accept personal gifts.
I always wonder if we would ever have a leader like Jose Mojica, who drove his old Volkswagen Beetle to work when he was President of Uruguay, lived on his farm, and never took a salary or “gifts” during his presidency. I wonder what clear guidelines he needed to be humble, honest, and committed to selfless public service. Guess you no longer have quality leaders.

Yours faithfully,
Reggie Bhagwandin

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