Former People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) minister and political scientist Dr. Henry Jeffrey says Guyana’s political class has repeatedly failed to deliver promised reforms to the way constitutional office holders are paid, arguing that successive administrations have retained executive control over salaries and pensions at the expense of transparency, accountability and public trust.

Jeffrey’s latest commentary comes as the government seeks to amend the Former Presidents (Benefits and Other Facilities) Act, removing the existing cap on benefits and replacing it with an open-ended framework. The proposed changes have sparked public debate, with critics warning they could significantly expand benefits for former presidents at a time when many Guyanese are struggling with a high cost of living, stagnant wages, unemployment and persistent poverty.

In his Future Notes column published on June 21 under the headline Still Raiding the Public Purse, Jeffrey argues that the controversy over former presidents’ benefits is not an isolated issue but part of a longstanding pattern in which governments have resisted creating an independent mechanism to determine their own remuneration.