GUYANA Government 2017 FOCUS CENTERED EXPLICITLY on the traditional SEVEN NOLAN Principles, Guyana’s modern statutory framework—ADMINISTERED by the GUYANA INTEGRITY COMMISSION—now OFFICIALLY evaluates public service using a broadened SET of Ten Principles of Public Life. These current standards explicitly include Accountability, Dignity, Diligence, Duty, Honour, Integrity, Loyalty, Objectivity, Responsibility, and Transparency.
UNDER the GUYANA INTEGRITY COMMISSION
Government in Action : Accountability and Transparency the KEYS to Good GOVERNANCE.
Prime Minister, Mr. Moses Nagamootoo, during an interview with the Press and Publicity Unit of the Ministry of the Presidency on May 31, 2017, said “that ALL public officials would be guided by the seven Nolan Principles of public life, which forms part of the Code of Conduct. These principles include Selflessness, Integrity, Accountability, Objectivity, Openness, Honesty and Leadership.
During the 2017 rollout, the Guyanese government utilized these seven standards to give “teeth” to the country’s Integrity Commission. The principles were intended as an ethical compass to curb abuses of office, target conflicts of interest, and establish prohibitions for ministers and parliamentarians.
The Seven Nolan Principles Integrated into Guyana’s Framework
- Selflessness:Public officials must act solely in terms of the public interest.
- Integrity: Officials must avoid placing themselves under financial or outside obligations that could improperly influence their work.
- Objectivity:Decisions—including public appointments and awarding contracts—must be made impartially and strictly on merit
- Accountability: Office holders are fully answerable to the public for their actions and must submit them to necessary scrutiny.
- Openness: Information and decision-making should be transparent, withheld only for lawful and clear reasons.
- Honesty: Public servants have a duty to be truthful and declare any private conflicts of interest.
- Leadership: Leaders must actively promote, support, and model these principles while challenging poor behavior.
The Nolan Principles are the 7 UK standards from 1995: Selflessness, Integrity, Objectivity, Accountability, Openness, Honesty, Leadership.
SWOT — Guyana 2026 vs. Nolan
STRENGTHS (alignment): Guyana 2026 vs. Nolan
Accountability / Openness: Revival of Public Accounts Committee, Auditor General audits, SARA (State Assets Recovery Agency), Procurement Commission Act operationalized. Government rhetoric: accountability and transparency as keys to governance.
-Selflessness / Integrity: Commitment to declare oil contracts, sign EITI candidacy, establish Sovereign Wealth Fund framework — acting in public interest ahead of first oil.
Objectivity: Efforts to depoliticize public service, restore constitutional commissions (Judicial, Police, Public Service Commissions).
WEAKNESSES: Guyana 2026 vs. Nolan
Quality of Life: Despite Nolan talk, lived reality 2017 AND NOW IN 2026 — GDP growth ∼2%, unemployment high, hinterland Indigenous communities with limited services, sugar industry closures affecting 7,000+ workers. Weak public service delivery.
Honesty / Leadership: Public perception GAP — PROMISES vs. IMPLEMENTATION . Access to Information Act (2011) existed BUT was criticized as discretionary with no penalties and only High Court recourse.
Corruption baseline: Government Audit Reports 2015-2018 showed 1,754 vouchers not submitted ($1.9B), gifts unaccounted ($15.8B), 144 breaches of Procurement Act — showing weak internal controls inherited and not yet fixed.
OPPORTUNITIES: Guyana 2026 vs. Nolan
OIL as enabler of Selflessness: IF, NATURAL RESOURCE FUND ( NRF) made fully transparent, COULD FUND PROGRAMS — free university, QUARTERLY CASH TRANSFERS TYO BANK ACCOUNTS OF ALL GUYANESE, hinterland development — removing ethnic patronage intermediaries and raising quality of life for all.
Institutionalize Nolan: Could have codified Nolan into Code of Conduct for ministers/MPs, with independent Ethics Commission with enforcement power — something Guyana still lacks.
THREATS: Guyana 2026 vs. Nolan
Objectivity / Integrity RISK: Elite capture of oil revenues through existing system of ethnic mobilization. Without radical transparency (real-time public register of contracts and cost-recovery), suspicion thrives.
Leadership risk: WPS police survey data from that era — only 31% confident police held accountable for bribes, 33% confident police not involved in corrupt practices — undermining trust.
Corruption perception: IDB at the time labelled Guyana’s public service among most corrupt in Caribbean, fueling public cynicism despite CPI improvements.
Bottom line for Guyana 2026 vs. Nolan
On PAPER, Guyana WAS TRYING TO MOVE TOWARD NOLAN — especially ACCOUNTABILITY: “HOLDERS of PUBLIC OFFICE are ACCOUNTABLE to the PUBLIC for their DECISIONS, and ACTIONS and MUST submit themselves to the SCRUTINY necessary to ensure this” and Openness: “ACT and take DECISIONS in an OPEN and TRANSPARENT manner”.
In PRACTICE, QUALITY of LIFE did not yet improve, and corruption controls were still audit findings, NOT convictions. The SWOT shows that the WINDOW was opened in 2017 to TURN OIL REVENUES into a Nolan-COMPLIANT STATE before FIRST OIL IN 2019 — the FAILURE to do THAT is why Governance DEBATES still dominate TODAY.
Government of Guyana – DAILY NOLAN in ACTION
Guyana’s WEALTH IS NOT ONLY UNDER the SEABED, but also in the ASSETS, TRUST and BLESSINGS of its PEOPLE.
I urge every holder of public office — from Cabinet to Constable, from Permanent Secretary to Village Toshaos — to live the Seven Nolan Principles daily, not as a poster on the wall but as a habit in the heart:
Selflessness – Ask each morning: “Is this decision for Guyana, or for me?”
Integrity – Say no to the obligation that will compromise you tomorrow.
Objectivity – Give the contract, the job, the land, on merit — not on party, family, or friend.
Accountability – Welcome scrutiny. Submit your books, explain your decision, answer the call.
Openness – Publish the contract. Publish the cost. Let sunlight be your best auditor.
Honesty – Be truthful when it is easy, and especially when it is hard.
Leadership – Leadership is not rank. It is example. When the top lives Nolan, the bottom will believe in Guyana.
IF and WHEN, WE do this, Quality of Life for all Guyanese — Afro, Indo, Indigenous, all SIX peoples — will rise, and corruption will have nowhere to hide.
One Guyana, One Standard, Every Day.
History of Nolan Principles(UK) — From the Start BY Lord Michael Nolan
1994 — The Crisis in the UK:
UK Parliament hit by “Cash-for-Questions” scandal. It was revealed MPs were taking money from lobbyists to ask questions in Parliament and not declaring outside interests. Public trust collapsed. Prime Minister *John Major* announced an independent body to clean up public life.
October 1994 — The Committee:
Committee on Standards in Public Life established an independent advisory body. Chairman: Lord Michael Nolan, a senior Law Lord (Baron Nolan of Brasted, Court of Appeal, House of Lords)
May 1995 — First Report:
The Committee’s first report created waves. It recommended full disclosure of MPs outside interests and, crucially, set out “The Seven Principles of Public Life”. They have since become eponymously known as the “Nolan Principles”.
Original 7 were:
- Selflessness
- Integrity
- Objectivity
- Accountability
- Openness
- Honesty
- Leadership
The principles were not law — they were a “North Star” for civic life, applicable to all who work in public life — ministers, civil servants, police, local councilors, NHS, education, and even private firms delivering public services.
Evolution OF UK NOLAN PRINCIPLES: Lord Michael Nolan
1997:Remit extended to funding of political parties under Blair.
2013 & 2021: Wording updated to strengthen Integrity, Leadership (challenge poor behavior, treat others with respect).
30th Anniversary 1994 – 2024: The Committee marked 30 years, with a new report _The Nolan Principles: Public Standards, the Public Interest and Public Service, saying implementation “requires ongoing investment in maintaining the quality of the wider public culture”.
SUMMARY: BORN from SCANDAL in UK in 1994-95 TO ANSWER one question: What STANDARD should every PUBLIC SERVANT live by when NO ONE is WATCHING ? Answer — the 7 Nolan Principles.
