The management of Guyana Power and Light (GPL) knew six months after it hired the now fired chief executive officer (CEO) Colin Welch, that he had deceived the company about his qualifications.
According to the findings of an audit done of the company between the period November 2011 and May 2015 by Nigel Hinds Financial Services,
the former CEO who was hired as the Deputy Chief Execu-tive Officer under the PPP/C, was later hired as the acting CEO by the current administration.
He was hired as CEO after the then CEO Bharat Dindyal was fired following several public showdowns with Welch over issues pertaining to other managers.
Welch was fired in February of 2016 following the installation of a new board.
According to the audit, “Lack of due diligence was unmistakable during the recruitment of Welch which resulted in him deceiving former chairman of the GPL Board Winston Brassington into believing that he had graduated from Harvard University.”
The “misleading and deceptive claim” in Welch’s resume was exposed when a transcript from Harvard University was provided as requested by the chairman six months after he was hired. Welch had also failed to provide a transcript of his Bachelor of Science Degree from Purdue University; the transcript would have shown his grade point average and as such his ineligibility to qualify for admission to study for a Master’s degree. This was obtained by the chairman months after he was hired.
The audit revealed that in a letter to then president Donald Ramotar dated April 8, 2014 Brassington misled him by stating that Welch was a graduate of Harvard University who held advanced studies in business administration management.
At the time of his firing there was also a complaint against Welch, which alleged that he had been in communication with the bidder and supplier of meters, Tesco PLC, a British firm and Shenzhen Clou Electronics Company Limited of China, respectively, urging them to supply false information.
Former Prime Minister Samuel Hinds was listed as a reference for Welch’s unsolicited application for the position of CEO and it was stated that he was Harvard educated and
possessed a degree in Industrial Engineering. His application was discussed at a board meeting and it was recommended that his expertise would have been better utilized for the company’s technical management even though some board members questioned whether Welch could have provided the assistance needed and felt he did not have any utility experience. One board member had stated that while he had experience it was not the relevant experience needed by the company.
The views of the board members were noted by Brassington and he indicated that a panel comprising the prime minister, then head of the presidential secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon and the Board will conduct the interview. And while it was suggested that the then CEO should be on the panel, the chairman ruled that since the discussions were preliminary it was not necessary for the CEO to be included.
On April 8, 2014, Brassington requested supporting documentation from Welch to validate his qualifications and credentials and he assured that the information on his resume can be supported.
The transcript from Harvard dated April 9, 2014 showed that Welch attended three courses at the university with one of the courses being graded as INC (Permanent Incomplete). There was no transcript from Purdue University to support the degree certificate proffered by Welch, which would have indicated whether he was eligible to qualify for admission to study for a Master’s Degree.
Welch was hired by GPL in October of 2013 without sufficient diligence as it was believed at the time that he had an MBA from Harvard University compounded by Welch providing misleading information.
It was pointed out that Welch’s deceptive and misleading resume was also sent to current Board Chairman Robert Badal in January 2016.
