The opposition Peoples’ Progressive Party (PPP) has once again accused the government of racial and political discrimination and victimization, even as its members are yet to be brought before the court for alleged corrupt practices unearthed by state-sponsored forensic audits.

At a Monday morning press conference, the opposition party chided the Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) for its “uncanny silence” on Guyana’s crime situation and its “biased” stance in favour of the Government.

Three days ago, the GHRA objected to a government-proposed Pension Bill for former Prime Minister Hamilton Green.

The opposition party contended that the body has also been silent on the “racial and political discrimination and victimization, as well as, the witch-hunting exercises currently being executed by the APNU+AFC coalition administration.”

These exercises, the PPP said, are directly targeting persons who, in the government’s view, are perceived as supportive of the PPP/C administration.

The Government has repeatedly denied allegations of victimization and witch-hunting thrown at it by the PPP.

The PPP’s statement comes at a time when there have been repeated calls for the government to take action against PPP members who were fingered in corrupt practices as were highlighted in state-sponsored forensic audits.

Forensic audits were embarked upon by the coalition government upon its ascension to executive office last year, and some of those audits have revealed numerous irregularities in the operation of state institutions.

One such instance was the audit into the financial operations and functioning of the One Laptop Per Family (OLPF) project, which revealed that over 1900 laptops, totaling in excess of Gy$115 million, are currently unaccounted for, while defective laptops have taken the total losses to over Gy$300 million.

An audit into the operations of the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) also revealed that contracts issued by the Authority were mismanaged, while over Gy$9 million were spent on fuel for vehicles that were “not working.”

Additionally, it was revealed in the audit that the completion cost of the controversial Hope Canal was Gy$700 million more than what was announced by the then Government.

And although President David Granger has said repeatedly that no protection will be offered to those accused of perpetrating corrupt acts, only Jennifer Westford, former Public Service Minister under the PPP has been changed.

The former Minister and her Personnel Officer (PO) Margaret Cummings appeared before the court to face larceny and forgery charges, respectively.

The charges were in connection with the alleged illegal transfer of eight vehicles to themselves and friends, which were the property of the government. The 42-year-old former minister was slapped with four counts of attempting to commit felony and granted $800,000 bail.

Another discriminatory act the opposition party pointed to, was the discontinuation of a PPP-piloted project in the hinterland which awarded a $30,000 monthly stipend to Community Support Officers (CSO).

The Government has since said that the almost 2000 persons who were recipients were not engaged in any kind of work for this money since it was being used a hand-out by the PPP in the lead up to 2015 general elections.

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