Dear Editor,

AT the 140th session of the United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) meeting, a number of questions were raised by the UNHRC in relation to Guyana’s anti-corruption framework, which stimulated orgasmic excitement in certain quarters in Guyana, mainly, the APNU+AFC and their allies.

Since his return to politics in 2015, the Vice-President, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo has been the subject of constant attacks by his opponents (the APNU+AFC) and others alike, especially since under his stewardship as Leader of the Opposition, he managed to successfully unseat the APNU+AFC from the office of government. Now that he is back in government serving as a key technical, strategic, and political support to His Excellency, Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali, his opponents have intensified their attacks aimed at denigrating him and to diminish his influence. But none of these efforts on the part of his opponents shall succeed, owing to the fact that their attempts at so doing have no credible basis to stand on, hence their failure.

For the benefit of the younger generation who are now following politics and the broader current affairs, it is not today that the Vice President has been accused of being involved in corruption. He’s been constantly accused of same as a former President of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana.

The more recent incident that seems to have triggered orgasmic excitement for the APNU+AFC and their associates, was the VICE interview. But the fact is that the recording in the VICE interview, which indeed was a set up as it turned out to be, vindicated the Vice President. And one can delve deeper into who was behind the VICE interview. By this time, it is not that difficult to ascertain.

As a gentle reminder, in 2020 the APNU+AFC, having recognised that they had lost the elections of March 2020, and that they were caught transparently trying to alter the results of the election in their favour, the party had recruited a US firm to lobby the US Government, with the view of managing the APNU+AFC’s credibility (which they don’t have). The question one should therefore ask is whether it was the said lobbying firm that was/is proving international political advisory services to the APNU+AFC and whether VICE was orchestrated by that firm to create a certain narrative to sell to the US Government in favour of the APNU+AFC.

Interestingly, the media forgot about that lobbying firm, and no one from the media has ever enquired about that firm since 2020, and whether it is still on a retainer [presently] and who is financing the lobbying firm.

More important to note is that all of the specific allegations of corruption levelled against the Vice President were disproven. For example, the facts surrounding the Skeldon modernisation project and the root cause (s) for its failure proved that it was Booker Tate that ought to have been fully responsible. Having so established, the PPP/C Government had moved to the court with the aim of seeking compensation for damages.

However, in 2015, the APNU+AFC formed the government and shortly thereafter, withdrew the appeal filed for damages by the previous PPP/C Government against Booker Tate, which was in the region of G$4.5 billion (with a present value (PV) of $7.7 billion). The question is why did the APNU+AFC Government withdraw the appeal against Booker Tate for their mismanagement of Skeldon?

Other projects include the Berbice Bridge and the Marriott hotel, all of which were remarkably successful and publicly transparent in terms of their financials. Moreover, when the APNU+AFC assumed office in 2015, two known accountants were selected, as opposed to following the correct procurement procedure in accordance with the Procurement Act, to perform forensic audits of government agencies, such as the Berbice Bridge, GPL, Guyoil, etc. Yet not a single piece of evidence was uncovered to implicate the Vice President or anyone else in the PPP/C Government.

Of interest to note is that when those two accountants were selected, the procurement law and regulation were breached to facilitate millions of dollars in contracts to the two forenamed individuals who were/are staunch anti-government critics at that time and presently.

For ease of reference, this author had dealt with the procurement breach by the former APNU+AFC Government in order to ensure that their anti-PPP/C spokespersons received the contracts for the forensic audits. (See link here https://www.guyanastandard.com/2023/10/19/bhagwandin-raises-questions-about-quality-of-forensic-audits-by-goolsaran-and-ram-in-2015/).

Finally, worth mentioning is that the anti-corruption framework consistent with the United Nations convention, the strengthening of same―that is, began under the Vice President, when he was the (former)President of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana. For example, as former President, he enacted the Integrity Commission Act and ensured that there were amendments to the Procurement Act, the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Act, the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act, the Audit Act, and the Constitution to provide for the establishment of the Public Procurement Commission, just to name a few.

Yours respectfully,
Joel Bhagwandin