FORMER Permanent Secretary (PS) of the Ministry of Legal Affairs, Indira Anandjit, is decrying the manner in which her contract was not renewed and has sought to blame the Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Basil Williams for all of this. In a letter to the editor of the Guyana Chronicle, Anandjit said she was informed of the non-renewal of her contract by virtue of a newspaper article carried by the Stabroek News on August 31. “I find it obscene that after my contract ended a month ago, July 22, 2016 over a month ago, now the minister has chosen to go public to make this announcement.”
The former permanent secretary was sent on 52 days administrative leave by Williams to facilitate an investigation by the Auditor General into the disappearance of approximately $2.5M worth of Commonwealth law books and computer parts costing almost the same amount from the ministry.
It is believed that the law books went missing between 2013 and 2015. But Anandjit maintained that the books have not disappeared and moreover, the Minister of Legal Affairs is more than aware of where the books were located. “What is disturbing is that Minister Williams feigned ignorance of these books when at a meeting he was told about them. It was even followed up with other discussions on procurement of books for the ministry. It is grossly unfair for Minister Williams to publicly attack me saying that I could not account for the books, when he knew who had them,” said the former permanent secretary. She noted too that while she had approved payment for the books, they were used by former Attorney General Anil Nandlall and were kept in the chambers.
Minister Williams did tell the media in December 2015 that the permanent secretary had authorised “the purchases and the books cannot be found in the ministry or the spares and so, the investigations are ongoing.” “This outburst can only be deemed as mischievous and a deliberate attempt to discredit me,” she said, adding that the Ministry of Legal Affairs does not “store or stock computer parts,” but purchases them on a needs basis on the advice of the head of the Information Technology Department. Anandjit said too that her role in managing stocks, whether books, equipment or any other item, is ensuring that the criteria are met for purchasing.
“It should be noted that while I have oversight of the Stores, the Head of the Accounting Department has the responsibility to ensure all assets and equipment are recorded, issued and managed efficiently. This head of department has the day-to-day responsibility of managing the Stores. This Head of Department remains on the job while I was sent off,” she declared.
The former Legal Affairs Permanent Secretary said she had meetings with both Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo and Minister of State Joseph Harmon on the matter, but they did not intervene. She is convinced that the Minister of Legal Affairs has an agenda against her and other persons perceived to be supporters of the opposition People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C). “It is my firm belief, that this was all a smokescreen to remove me from the ministry. When Minister Williams met with me just after taking office, he said he has to ‘change the face’ of the ministry to reflect [that] there has been a change in Government.”
Anandjit accused the Minister of Legal Affairs of vindictiveness, while noting that she had applied for a renewal of her contract which expired in July. Thus far, she is yet to receive a response from the said ministry. “I applied for renewal of my contract and two days prior to expiration date of my contract I was in receipt of a mail from Minister Harmon’s office saying the final decision to renew rested with Minister Basil Williams.”
The former permanent secretary added that Williams was not in a position to assess her properly, as he had worked with her for only a few months and chided him for not paying “attention to the previous Audit and Public Accounts Committee reports.” She added that she finds it strange that the renewal of her contract was not dealt with at the Ministry of the Presidency, as it was the former Office of the President that was responsible for all matters relating to permanent secretaries.
“All letters instructing me to continue on annual and administrative leave were signed by the Senior Personnel Officer of the Ministry of Legal Affairs without being copied to the Minister of State. No doubt, she was instructed by the Minister of Legal Affairs to write to me,” Anandjit believes. She is of the opinion that her hard work, integrity and transparency have all fallen on deaf ears at the behest of the Minister of Legal Affairs. “…the careless action of the Minister of Legal Affairs has caused immense embarrassment and damage to my credibility,” she remarked, noting that she is saddened and disappointed over the manner in which she was “tossed out” of her job.
Anandjit believes that at a time when women globally are fighting for respect, equity and equal treatment, it is a digression for her to be treated in such a manner, given that she has done no wrong and is qualified for the post. “I feel offended at the way this matter was handled by the minister. As a professional, do I not deserve the courtesy of being informed officially? It is no secret that there are agencies where questionable activities have taken place and that were highlighted in the media. Yet no action was taken. Why the double standards?” she asked.
“I was subsequently informed that the report was completed and sent to the Ministry of Legal Affairs at the end of January. I was also informed that the report had cleared me of all suspicion of wrongdoing as the books and parts could have been accounted for. Yet I remained on administrative leave until the end of my contract in July,” she said. Melissa Tucker, the Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator, has been acting as the permanent secretary.