A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), the parliamentary opposition bloc holding 12 of the Opposition’s 29 seats in Guyana’s 65-member National Assembly, has moved to require the public disclosure of asset declarations by the country’s highest elected officials and senior public servants, amid growing scrutiny over President Irfaan Ali’s reported multi-billion-dollar farm at Long Creek.
APNU’s lead parliamentarian, Dr. Terrence Campbell, on July 10 formally submitted the Integrity Commission (Amendment) Bill 2026 to the Clerk of the National Assembly for tabling in the 13th Parliament.
The proposed legislation seeks to amend Section 35 of the Integrity Commission Act by creating an exception to the law’s confidentiality provisions, requiring the Integrity Commission to publish in the Official Gazette summaries of statutory declarations filed by specified holders of high public office.
Campbell said the amendment is intended to strengthen public accountability while preserving the confidentiality of information not required to be disclosed.
“The proposed amendment is intended to strengthen transparency, accountability and public confidence in public office by ensuring that prescribed information relating to the statutory declarations of the country’s principal elected and executive office holders is made publicly available while preserving the confidentiality of information not required to be disclosed,” Campbell wrote in his submission to the Clerk of the National Assembly.
In a broadcast explaining the proposed amendment, Campbell also appealed directly to lawmakers on both sides of the National Assembly to support the legislation.
He said the bill should not be viewed as a partisan initiative but as a measure designed to enhance public confidence in government and public office.
Campbell argued that how Members of Parliament vote on the legislation would send a clear signal to the Guyanese public about where they stand on transparency and accountability.
He called on all Members of Parliament—government and opposition alike—to support the bill, stating that backing the legislation would demonstrate to the public that they believe in transparency and are not opposed to being held accountable to the people.
The bill comes in the wake of revelations by Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed concerning President Ali’s multi-billion-dollar agricultural development at Long Creek on the Soesdyke-Linden Highway. Those disclosures have intensified calls from the opposition for greater transparency regarding the assets and financial interests of senior public officials.
Guyana’s Integrity Commission Act currently requires designated public officials to submit annual declarations of their income, assets and liabilities to the Integrity Commission. However, Section 35 of the Act places those declarations under strict confidentiality, making it an offence to disclose information contained in them except in limited circumstances.
For years, transparency advocates have argued that the confidentiality provisions undermine public accountability by preventing citizens from scrutinising the declared assets of elected officials and senior public servants.
Campbell’s proposed amendment would create an exception by requiring the publication of summaries of declarations filed by the President, ministers, parliamentary secretaries, members of the National Assembly, the Attorney General where not a Cabinet member, the Head of the Presidential Secretariat, permanent secretaries, deputy permanent secretaries and several senior public officials responsible for state lands, natural resources and revenue collection.
Those covered would also include the Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner of Lands and Surveys, Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner of Geology and Mines, Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner of Forests, Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner of Inland Revenue, and the Comptroller and Deputy Comptroller of Customs and Excise.
The legislation provides that, notwithstanding the confidentiality provisions contained in Section 35, the Integrity Commission “shall cause to be published in the Official Gazette a summary of the statutory declaration” submitted by those office holders in a prescribed format.
In his letter to the Clerk of the National Assembly, Campbell requested that the bill and its accompanying explanatory memorandum “be processed in accordance with the Standing Orders and the established procedures of the National Assembly.”
The proposed legislation is expected to add momentum to the national debate over transparency, conflicts of interest and accountability, particularly as questions continue to be raised over the disclosure of assets by senior government officials following the controversy surrounding President Ali’s Long Creek farm.
If passed, the amendment would represent one of the most significant changes to Guyana’s integrity framework since the Integrity Commission Act was enacted, introducing public access to summaries of asset declarations for the country’s most senior public office holders.
