Booted Country Coordinator of the Guyana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (GYEITI), Dr Rudy Jadoopat has been sent on leave ahead of his controversial replacement by former Pro-Chancellor of the University of Guyana Dr Prem Misir.
Jadoopat’s contract initially expired in 2020 and was then renewed for an additional year during which the PPP/C government took office. With the Ministry of Natural Re-sources now being headed by Vickram Bharrat, his contract was renewed for an additional year. That period came to an end on January 31, 2022, and the contract was not renewed. Instead, he was given a letter on February 04, 2022, which informed him that his services were terminated.
In 2021, the Ministry advertised for several positions within the EITI Secretariat inclusive of the National Coordinator. Jadoopat was among those who were interviewed for the post but Misir was chosen instead.
“The MNR (Ministry of Natural Resources) wishes to advise you that we have been informed that the number one (1) ranked candidate has been made an offer for the position of National Coordinator and it has been accepted. Consequently, in light of the aforementioned, we regrettably wish to inform you that your final day of employment will be 4 March 2022,” a letter from the Permanent Secretary Joslyn McKenzie advised Jadoopat.
Jadoopat has been at the helm of the EITI Secretariat since its establishment in 2017.
Yesterday, Jadoopat told Stabroek News that he had been asked to proceed on leave since February 15 after he returned from medical leave.
I “…wish to advise you that you have forty-eight days of leave and for which you are to proceed on from 15/02/2022…please be advised that during the period the Office of the Permanent Secretary will provide day to day support to the GY Secretariat as required. The MNR will take all relevant steps to honour all financial obligations and necessary administrative procedures. The office will be in contact in relation to assets and other relevant paperwork,” PS McKenzie said in an email to Jadoopat on February 14.
Jadoopat still believes that the decision not to retain him is rooted in political motives since Minister Bharrat had accused him of being affiliated with the AFC – an accusation that the AFC and Jadoopat vehemently deny.
Bharrat had said that the replacement of Jadoopat was done transparently.
“So I just wanted to highlight that it was a transparent process, that his contract came to an end almost a year ago and he himself applied, he was interviewed for the position and unfortunately he was not the number one candidate,” the Minister had said in a previous interview with Stabroek News.
Jadoopat is maintaining that his firing stems from his refusal to be directed by the Minister. He told Stabroek News that GYEITI is supposed to be an independent body but since assuming office Bharrat has been requiring every public missive or public engagement to be approved by him.
“There is no one who can point fingers at me and [the] quality of [my] work anywhere in the world and even now and I have been the EITI head for the past five years and there is no record of anything except the Minister is not happy with me being straightforward. I stick to the EITI standards and I cannot violate them as a professional so when the Minister or whoever tells me to do anything which is in violation of the standard I will not do it.
“He has given me instructions to do certain things and I refused because it was in violation of the standard and my job is to uphold the standard and that is what the Government of Guyana committed to – uphold the EITI standard, embrace it and implement it – and my job is to make sure that we implement the EITI international standard as it is,” Jadoopat had said in an earlier interview with Stabroek News.
He had further explained that the Minister had been demanding that alternate members of the Multi-Stakeholder Group (MSG) not be invited to meetings, which is a violation of its terms of reference. Jadoopat has been refusing to do that which, he claims, resulted in conflicts with the Minister.
Concerned
The Multi-Stakeholder Group, comprising of representatives from the extractive industries, government and civil society, is the decision making body of the GYEITI and is said to be concerned with the decision not to retain Jadoopat.
According to sources associated with the MSG, it is expected to meet in early March to discuss matters affecting the Secretariat and the various reports.
“When they meet in March they would more than likely have to issue a statement on the replacement of Dr Jadoopat. The MSG is a multi-sector body and it has to ensure that there is consensus with everything that is being done. The MSG is extremely concerned because Dr Jadoopat has been there from the beginning and he has a lot of knowledge of the processes and so on.
“However, the MSG also have to take note of the fact that his contract expired and he was not ranked top in the interviews. The MSG was represented in the interviewing process and while I cannot say what the scores were, we are confident that our representative was fair but we are concerned nevertheless,” one source related to Stabroek News.
The government has been accused of attempting to staff the GYEITI Secretariat with its associates to avoid scrutiny. Misir has long been linked to the PPP and served as head of the Government Information Agency and later in the Office of the President in the Jagdeo administration.
He was most recently the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Fiji and resigned in 2018 following disputes with some staff there. Five of the workers at the University of Fiji, according to the Fiji Sun, had complained to immigration authorities there resulting in Misir’s work permit being delayed. He was forced to seek the Prime Minister’s intervention to secure a work permit.
According to the Ministry, Misir has a Bachelor of Social Science degree (B.S.Sc. Honours) in Social and Behavioral Sciences from Queens University Belfast, a postgraduate research masters (MPhil) from the University of Surrey in Social and Behavioral Sciences, and a Master’s of Public Health (MPH) from the University of Manchester in Medical and Human Sciences. It further noted that he is a fellow of the Royal Society for Public Health, has a PhD with commendation in Social and Behavioral Sciences from the University of Hull, and is also certified by Harvard University in Improving Global Health: Focusing on Quality and Safety.
The EITI website states that Jadoopat has a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Degree in Economics, specialising in International Economic Relations, from Moscow State University, and a Master of Science (M.Sc.) Degree in Economics, from the University of Guyana. Before gaining a scholarship through the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) in his capacity as Branch Chairman of the NAACIE Trade Union in Guyana, he worked at the Guyana Sugar Corporation as a laboratory technician and a clerk in the personnel department at Diamond Estate, E.B.D.
