This is the ninth entry in a series on the current state of civil society in Guyana
Civil society activist Yog Mahadeo says the 2016 oil agreement between the government and ExxonMobil is like the proverbial knee on the necks of Guyanese and the group he is part of has the right to advocate on matters of public interest in line with Article 13 of the Constitution.
In an interview with the Sunday Stabroek, Mahadeo said that since its formation last year, Article 13 has addressed a broad range of subjects including the need for the appointment of the procurement commission and other constitutional bodies, the absence of confirmed appointees at the top of the judiciary and the need to renegotiate the controversial 2016 Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) with ExxonMobil subsidiary, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL).
Mahadeo said that the group of civic-minded citizens, who now constitute Article 13 have been speaking out on numerous transgressions over the 15 years by governments and political figures and are mostly independents who were also outspoken during the five months of the 2020 general and regional elections impasse.
“As individuals, we saw the elections impasse as something we needed to stand up and speak about. We took a lot of blows, threats and personal attacks but we stood our grounds. It wasn’t the PPP/C alone that fought for an end to that elections impasse. The independent media including Stabroek News and people like ourselves were outspoken. Post 2020 swearing in, myself and others included gave the government some time to get their act together,” Mahadeo said.
The individuals came together in late July 2021 concerned that a year after the new government took office, good governance and democracy were not going the way they should and that the government was quickly squandering the opportunity conferred by the elections and sweeping aside independent thinking, Mahadeo said.
He added, the name Article 13 proposed by chartered accountant Christopher Ram was agreed to because it speaks to an inclusionary democracy and when things go wrong anywhere, people call the media or those who they think will represent them.
“We decided Article 13 of the constitution was the basis on which we would be proactive, engage government, the private sector, civil society, the diplomatic community among others and it gives us the constitutional platform to speak on behalf of the people”, he stated.
Article 13 of the constitution says: “The principal objective of the political system of the State is to establish an inclusionary democracy by providing increasing opportunities for the participation of citizens, and their organisations in the management and decision making processes of the State, withparticular emphasis on those areas of decision-making that directly affect their well-being”.
From the inception Article 13 declared it was not a political party. “We wanted the people’s voice represented and heard by the government, the legislature and the judiciary.”
On Article 13’s legitimacy, Mahadeo said, “We are here. Our application for formal registration is in place. We have not collected monies or solicited donations in any way and while we do not solicit membership, we have gotten signed membership across the country. Wherever we visited people are interested and want to become members and supporters of Article 13.”
Noting that Article 13 recently represented Guyana’s civil society at the Summit of the Americas, he said, “No one can question our legitimacy, which was given to us as a birthright by our Constitution. It is a fundamental right to associate to get together and no one can take that away from us. Legal standing or not, the fact that we are Article 13 alone gives us the ability and the freedom to represent and speak on behalf of our people.”
Somehow it appears, he said, that anybody who speaks out wants political power or has something against the PPP or against the PNC. “People just want the right things to happen regardless of what government is in place.”
Critically supportive
Article 13, he said, also sees one of its roles as being critically supportive of the government. “Our aim is to make Guyana a better a better place. We are not going to be better under the current oil contract with ExxonMobil or the current swath of corruption taking place here.”
Article 13 in a release had brought to the public’s attention to the fact that a year had passed with the PPP/C in government and it had not put in place a Public Procurement Commission (PPC) and several other constitutional bodies while government was “busy signing on and giving away contracts without the mandatory bodies in place.”
While the members of the PPC have been identified by parliament they are yet to be sworn in by President Irfaan Ali.
Article 13 also called on the government, the opposition and others to look at judicial appointments. “We feel it’s a shame the judiciary of Guyana keeps on being trampled by acting appointments. Justices Carl Singh and Ian Chang retired in acting positions”
The current administration, he said, started to make some noise about the appointment of Justices Roxane George, Yonette Cummings-Edwards and Rishi Persaud.
“Suddenly we hear they are thinking about one but not the others because of decisions made. Our position is government is holding back because they want to control the judges’ decisions. Not agreeing with a judge’s decision is a mere state of play because a higher court will rule for or against a lower court’s decision as was proven during the elections fiasco. You cannot say you will appoint one but not the other. By doing that you are telling the other you better behave yourself because we are going to appoint you. That is bad in character, in principle and in practice.”
The opposition not recognizing the government, he said, should not have affected consultations for appointments because the opposition filling the seats in Parliament meant recognition. “I don’t feel it was because of the byplay between the opposition and government. I suspect they were just happy to go along with the flow until they found their own people to put in these bodies.”
Other areas Article 13 is currently looking at include the local content policy and equal pay in the extractive sector.
Man up
Article 13 on Tuesday protested outside of the Ministry of Natural Resources against the 2016 PSA that former natural resources minister Raphael Trotman signed.
“That contract is the proverbial knee on the necks of all Guyanese…It is so bad President Irfaan Ali and Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo (included) renegotiation in their last elections campaign promises. Jagdeo said similar contracts were changed in other countries because the people demanded it. We are saying, man up and fulfill your promise. It was bad then. It is bad now. It will be worse in the future.”
Mahadeo believes that Ali and Jagdeo would like to renegotiate the contract but they may not do so voluntarily. He argued that if Guyanese collectively demand a change, they will have to act.
Last week some financials were coming out, he noted. “ExxonMobil and partners make $320 billion. Guyana gets $85 billion but Guyana gives $79 billion in tax credit to ExxonMobil (and partners) … That is how horrible this contract is.”
No country would give an investor a tax certificate for zero sums of taxes paid, he said. “We need to take this matter up to the New York Stock Exchange. We have an oil company that didn’t pay taxes but in its books to its investors on the stock exchange it is going show that they paid taxes because they received a tax certificate from Guyana.”
Everyone rightfully blames the APNU+AFC government for the contract but a new government is in place and they must change the contract, he said.
While everyone speaks on the sanctity of the contract, he said, Guyana has had a history of breaking contracts. “Burnham nationalised everybody. The PPP liberalised telecoms. Why are we now like saints talking about the sanctity of contracts? The stability clause in the oil contract is a noose, squeezing the breath out of us. The contract has basically said the National Assembly is powerless and cannot make any laws that can change it. You have taken the power away from the voters and removed their ability to vote for a government that can pass laws on their behalf”, Mahadeo argued.
Corruption
Since this government took office, Mahadeo noted, they have given out cash in public assistance in the forms of Covid-19 relief to households, flood relief, relief to fishermen, sugar workers among others.
“Show me one audit. It is really being seen as a payoff to supporters. It is no less than an early election’s campaign government has started. All of the cash handouts must be audited and full reports disclosed publicly”, he asserted.
Noting that Article 13 protests once a week, he said, last week they joined the General Workers Union in calling for an increase in the minimum wage in the private sector. Government subsequently announced a $60,000 a month minimum wage after initially saying that a study was needed. “We believe it should have been no less than $75,000-minimum wage as in the public sector.”
The government also announced a part-time employment scheme which has raised the minimum wage to $4,000 a day while ignoring the public and private sectors’ minimum wage. “They are being paid $40,000 for ten days of work. It is good to create employment opportunities but again you are creating a nightmare for the rest of Guyana”, Mahadeo said.
Emerging country of concern
Article 13’s participation as a civil society representative in the Summit of the Americas was based on public invitations for civil society’s participation and public presentations. Article 13 signed up for participation in the areas of democratic governance and a green future. This included taking part in thematic working groups online and summarised presentations to the heads of government during the latter half of the summit. At the summit, they were engaged in three days of working sessions with other civil society groups including from Cuba and Nicaragua whose governments were not invited because of their non-democratic posture.
Mahadeo, who represented Article 13 in the democratic governance group, said he spoke about what happened over the past ten years and what is happening currently and the need to evaluate Guyana as an emerging country of concern in the region in terms of democracy and corruption.
In the presentation to the green futures group, he said, Guyana has significant issues where the environment is concerned.
“We have an Environmental Protection Agency that waives any need for an environmental impact assessment where oil and gas projects are concerned, or if it does call for one, ExxonMobil does it.”
He added that there is no ongoing evaluation on what is happening with the waste and byproducts offshore and of the millions of cubic feet of gas that is being flared every day.
On senior government officials lambasting civil society, Mahadeo said, “Not only did they attack Article 13 or civil society but they became personal. Because I am a prime person in Article 13, I was deemed as someone who didn’t get what I wanted and now I am the loudest critic of the government.”
Article 13 took the attacks to mean they were making an impact. “The attacks literally took the covering off. People who never heard of Article 13 before started to focus. It might have caused a little upset targeting my family but it provided an impetus for us to continue.”
One of the things Article 13 achieved from the attacks was making young people aware that they can stand up and speak up, he said. “People are fearful of repercussions, fearful of losing their jobs, fearful for their family. People speak in hushed whispers and tones because of these attacks. When the government attack people like me they are sending a message to others. We have no less than 60 or 70 persons who have signed on to us, ticking out that block in our form their wish to remain confidential. We have to respect that because it is their right. The attacks will continue.”
