–Minister McCoy says

MINISTER within the Office of the Prime Minister with Responsibility for Public Affairs, Kwame McCoy has called out former Minister of Public Telecommunications, and current Chairperson of the Alliance For Change (AFC), Kathy Hughes for her attempts to question a legal process while being the direct beneficiary of government contracts when she was a sitting minister.

“My attention was drawn to the recent baseless and abominable statements attributed to Cathy Hughes with regards the implementation of an electronic identification system, one that has tremendous benefits in transforming Guyana into a modern society,” Minister McCoy said in a statement on his Facebook page.

The Ministry of Finance has already underscored that the contract signed for the production of electronic identification cards (E-ID) was awarded in accordance with Guyana’s procurement laws.

According to the ministry: “… the contract in question was awarded in full conformity with the Laws of Guyana, including the procurement laws. Additionally, the company which will be developing the solution for Guyana is a highly-regarded supplier of items of this nature, internationally, and its shareholding comprises two major entities operating in the secure printing industry worldwide, Giesecke and Devrient and Bundesdruckerei GmbH, both of whom have unchallengeable longstanding reputations globally.”

Guyana signed a US$35.4 million contract with Germany-based company, Veridos, for the provision of a Single Electronic Identification System and cards that will be issued to Guyanese.
“The contract with Veridos was lawfully executed with an internationally reputable group, and is intended to deliver a product that will transform citizen experience in Guyana with the introduction of the integrated electronic national identification card.

“Once introduced, the card will enable citizens to interact with all government agencies and many private sector entities, using this single, unique and secure identifier, and will vastly improve the efficiency of service delivery to citizens,” the Ministry of Finance said.

In response to Hughes’ comment on the government’s initiative, Minister McCoy said: Cathy, a former Minister of Public Telecommunication, should avoid any utterances publicly, particularly on issues of transparency and accountability, as she was part of the APNU+AFC cabal that presided over the worst periods of mismanagement, incompetence, and corruption ever seen in our country and the Caribbean.”

He went on to highlight that there are documents and published media reports with supporting evidence that Hughes’ private company received millions in contracts from her very own APNU+AFC government through her ministry.

Minister McCoy was adamant that it is “deceitful” and “distasteful” for the AFC Chairperson, who “parades in the public as Miss Prim-and-Proper”, to comment on governance when her track record is there for the public to see.

He said, too, that there are more deals which she was implicated in, so she is “morally bankrupt” and “unfit” to address issues of governance.

Minister McCoy went on to say: “There are questions, the answers for which, Cathy should apprise Guyanese about. Firstly, why was the liberalisation of the telecommunication industry stalled for several years, even though the enabling legislation was passed by the National Assembly in 2016? Secondly, whose account was used by a telecommunications provider to funnel millions of dollars?

“The ambition, like all of the other members of the APNU+AFC, is to scuttle projects of the PPP/C by requesting information, and then using the information, which is shared in the spirit of transparency, to extort stakeholders in the project.”

Minister McCoy related that this was the case with the Amaila Falls Hydropower project which the APNU+AFC blocked in the National Assembly, but behind closed doors sought and benefit from contracts to represent the developer.

“The PPP/C Government will continue to fight off aggressively any of the Cathys of this world, and any attempt to castigate us as being anything other than a government that is genuinely and sincerely working for the betterment and advancement of the country,” the minister affirmed.