Former General Manager of the Guyana National Newspapers Limited (GNNL) Sherod Duncan will be appealing his recent dismissal.
Duncan’s lawyer, James Bond, told Sunday Stabroek that the appeal will be filed with the Office of the Prime Minister tomorrow. He noted that there are at least three grounds for appeal, chief among them being that, “there was no formal vote” by the seven-member GNNL Board to have Duncan dismissed.
“We are appealing. The Auditor General’s report never envisaged dismissal of anyone. The breaches identified were minor and all but two of the matters were financial. These fell under the finance officer not Mr. Duncan,” Bond explained, while noting that while a number of issues were flagged, few were directly under the purview of Duncan.
At least two members of the seven-member Board agree with Bond’s position that a vote was never done.
Directors Juretha Fernandes and Beverly Alert indicated to Sunday Stabroek that at no point during Tuesday’s meeting was a motion for a vote put before the Board.
“There was a general discussion and directors were asked to state their position,” Alert explained, adding that one director, Karran Chand, who left before the conclusion of the meeting, indicated that he was not in favour of a dismissal.
“Though he expressed his view the same as we did, his position was not taken into consideration in what is being considered the ‘final vote,’” Alert indicated. Efforts by Sunday Stabroek to reach Chand proved futile.
Fernandes, too, questioned the public statement issued by the Board following the meeting.
“I read in the newspaper that a vote was taken and my contention is who called for a vote? No one called for a vote. At no point in time did we vote,” Fernandes repeatedly stressed.
She, along with Alert, also questioned the reasoning behind Duncan’s dismissal, contending that none of the breaches highlighted were egregious or the direct responsibility of Duncan.
“Quite frankly, I do not believe there was any justification for dismissal. The report stated nothing about dismissal. Procedural breaches were the only thing highlighted. Duncan was never one of the four signatories on any accounts and he was never responsible for hiring. If financial and human resource procedures were breached then everyone responsible for these following these procedures needs to be disciplined,” Fernandes opined.
Alert, too, maintained that nothing in the Auditor General’s report pointed to fraud or misappropriation of funds.
“It was all deviation from procedure. No theft. A process does not involve one person so all those involved should’ve been disciplined or nobody disciplined,” she noted.
In a statement on Wednesday, GNNL indicated that Chair of the Board, Geeta Chandan-Edmond, cast the deciding vote to remove Duncan from his position as General Manager of the state newspaper, the Guyana Chronicle.
“All Directors who were present were of the view that the numerous breaches identified in the report in all areas under review were serious in nature and that some form of disciplinary action against the General Manager was necessary, especially given the fact that he was on probation,” the GNNL Board said in its official statement.
The statement revealed that one director recommended a one-month suspension and an extension of the period of probation, while two directors recommended an extension of the period of probation. Three directors held the view that Duncan’s services should be terminated with immediate effect for ‘gross misconduct.’ The Board comprises a Chairman and six directors, one of whom was absent at the time of the vote, and a workers’ representative without voting rights, the statement noted.
This newspaper understands that the seventh member of the Board, Chand, of Essequibo, was unable to remain in the meeting as he needed to travel home.
“He has said numerous times that if meetings are set in the afternoons, he would not be able to be present but made an effort to show up for this meeting scheduled for 2 pm,” another director indicated. She added that the meeting didn’t actually begin until 3 pm because Chandan-Edmond was late.
“He had to leave at 4 to get a boat at Parika but he clearly said he was in favour of the tightening of procedures not a dismissal,” it was explained.
GNNL’s statement said that following the call for a vote on the matter of termination of services, three directors voted against, while three voted in favour of termination, thus there was a tie.
“Invoking article 94 of the Company’s Articles of Incorporation, the Chairman exercised her right to a casting vote in favour of termination of services. Article 94 states, inter alia: “Questions arising at any meeting shall be decided by a majority of votes. In cases of an equality of votes the chairman shall have a second or casting vote”. Mr Sherod Duncan’s services were as a consequence of that outcome terminated with immediate effect,” the statement said.
Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo had ordered a full investigation into mismanagement at the GNNL under Duncan’s tenure as General Manager between 1st June, 2018 and 10th September, 2018. The Board, in accordance with this directive, had enlisted the services of the Office of the Auditor General. A special audit on the overall management and governance of GNNL in the areas of financial management, human resource management and administrative management for that period was, therefore, done.
The audit had found that tender rules were flouted; services were acquired by the company without contracts; and payments were made on invoices with inadequate details, without passage through established approval process and on invoices that bear no mark of authentication, such as business stamps or signature.
Additionally, cash advances given to Duncan for overseas and local travel are still to be cleared, as he has not provided the necessary documents to support expenditure; while the company’s personnel policy and procedures manual were ignored during the recruitment, termination and dismissal of several employees.
