Chartered accountant Christopher Ram and former Auditor General Anand Goolsarran have been nominated by the Alliance For Change (AFC) to be members of the Public Procurement Commission (PPC), which may soon be set up after a decade-long delay.
This was announced by AFC Chairman Khemraj Ramjattan on Wednesday at a party news conference, where he affirmed that given their impeccable records in the accounting field and that they met the appointment criteria, Ram and Goolsarran were “the best men” for the job.
The nominations will test the preparedness of the PPP/C to have professionals who have been critics of it included on the PPC, which is to be responsible for monitoring and reviewing all public procurement.
It specifically has oversight over the procedures of ministerial, regional and national procurement entities as well as those of project execution units. Further, the commission is to investigate complaints from suppliers, contractors and public entities and cases of irregularities and mismanagement, with the power to propose remedial action in all instances.
The President is required to appoint the members after such members have been nominated by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament and approved by not less than two-thirds of the elected members of the National Assembly.
Ramjattan anticipated that with the public nomination of the two men, the government would be critical and try to downplay their standing since they are public critics of the PPP/C administration. However, he said their “freedoms of expression” should not be used to prevent them from being appointed as they have been exercising their democratic right as citizens of the country. “I do not believe that their freedom of expression during the course of their public duties and their citizenship should be any hurdle or any block to them being appointed… It is people who have been talking about accountability issues and you want, people who know in-depth about the issues to be there,” said Ramjattan.
Ramjattan cited Ram’s and Goolsarran’s past work experiences as evidence of the capability and vigilance needed for the PPC.
“If there is one man that can scrutinise these projects for us in that constitutional body, it is Christopher Ram… He knows his accounting and he is a lawyer and fully-qualified,” he said.
He further cited Goolsarran’s contributions as then Auditor General of Guyana, while noting that he was also employed with the United Nations also as an auditor.
“Anand is a major scrutiniser of finances in this country… We all know what a fantastic accountant he is and his experience in the public sphere means he is fully qualified to be there,” he said.
The PPP/C and APNU, through Presidential Advisor on Governance Gail Teixeira and Chairman David Granger, respectively, informed that they both will await the agreed resumption of tripartite talks among the parties in the National Assembly to identify their nominees. Granger said that his party will be “looking at all of the names of the nominees before a decision is made,” while informing that they were working towards an end of June deadline for the establishment of the PPC.
When contacted, Ram told Stabroek News that while he was not informed of a formal nomination he would welcome the opportunity to offer to the country his decades of experience.
He added that he sees no hindrance to his nomination and appointment since he was recently appointed by Cabinet as the Director of the National Parks Commission. On the expeditious forming of the PPC, he added: “The Public Procurement Commission has been a requirement for more than ten years and from an economic and economy perspective, such a commission is extremely important… An independent Public Procurement Commission will not only realise that efficacy but also engender public confidence in the procurement process and in the government.”
Despite being catered for more than a decade ago, the body has never been constituted as the PPP/C and the then main opposition PNCR haggled over nominees. At one stage Ram had been a prospective nominee of the PNCR but the PPP/C appeared unwilling to countenance his candidature. During the deliberations between the two parties, the PPP/C had suggested that it be allowed three of the nominees on the commission. Observers point out however that the constitution sets out specific qualifications and these would be the deciding factors on who gets on to the commission. According to Article 212 X (1) of the constitution, the PPC shall comprise five members “who shall have expertise and experience in procurement, legal, financial and administrative matters.”
The nominees will require support from both sides of the house because of the two-thirds benchmark. Minister of Foreign Affairs Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, responding to a question in the National Assembly recently, had also said that by June month end the PPC would be set up.
