Dear Editor,
The international media reports that a former China Minister of Agriculture has been sentenced by a Chinese court for execution for corruption involving US$38 million. My friend at the Chinese Embassy confirmed that the former Agriculture Minister was found guilty of corruption and the judge sentenced him to death. In Guyana, several Ministers and other officials including ranking leadership have been involved in rampant corruption in the hundreds of millions of American dollars and have been rewarded with promotion. Some ranking Guyanese Ministers have stolen ten times the amount as the former Chinese Minister of Agriculture. Several Ministers and other officials came into government dirt poor five years ago and now have fancy vehicles and massive mansions including in Bloomfield, Eccles, Tuschen, Leonara, Pradoville, and elsewhere. The President and Vice President have been quiet and have rewarded Ministers for corruption with renewed cabinet berth.
If a Minister in China is sentenced to execution for stealing US $38 million, what sentencing or penalty should be levied on Guyanese Ministers and other officials who stole ten times that amount? Is there anything like dozen times execution for stealing dozen times the amount as the Chinese Agriculture Minister?
Yours truly,
Nathan Barton
