Govt shovels US$12.8M drug contract to New GPC
…violates the Constitution, exposes Dr. Luncheon as a liar The Cabinet of Government Ministers last month blessed contracts for the procurement of drugs worth
Dr. Ranjisinghi (Bobby) Ramroop
some US$12.8 million (G$2,677,864,510). The contracts were awarded to New GPC, a company controlled by Dr. Ranjisinghi (Bobby) Ramroop, a friend with business connections to former President Bharrat Jagdeo. Three Cabinet Minutes have been leaked and reproduced in the electronic media. The Minutes of the Cabinet meeting approving the most expensive contract for $6,730,526 dated April 23, 2015 was signed by Dr. Roger Luncheon in his capacity as Secretary to the Cabinet and Head of the Presidential Secretariat. Drug purchases for the past several years have been done on the sole sourcing principle, rather than the more competitive tender process required under the Procurement Commission Act. It is estimated that over the past seven years more than US$200 million were spent on drug procurement, with the lion’s share going to New GPC. The transactions raised several questions ranging from the authority of the Cabinet to create contracts for the payment of such large sums, to whether Dr. Luncheon has been guilty of perjury in connection with a statement he gave to the Court on Wednesday, through an Attorney-at-Law. Under the Constitution of Guyana and the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act, during the first four months of any year and before the passing of any budget, the Government is only authorised to
Dr. Roger Luncheon
spend in each month, one-twelfth of the amount spent in the preceding year. The 2014 Budget shows expenditure of $5,138,857,000 which means that for the four months, the amount which could lawfully be spent was about $1.3 billion. This would mean that in one fortnight in April alone, the Government spent twice as much as it was allowed to spend in four months. One person familiar with Government accounting noted that every month the Government has been purchasing drugs, so that the unlawful spending is considerably more than the April purchases. The person noted that while the Cabinet, individual Ministers, the Finance Secretary and the Budget Director are all circulated with a copy of the Cabinet Minutes, the responsibility for the Consolidated Fund vests in the Finance Minister, and it is he who would have to face the consequences for the violation. Observers have been asking almost frustratingly, and without any answer, for the reason why senior, professional persons would go out of their lawful duties to participate in the lawless transactions in which the only beneficiary is Dr. Ramroop. The Minutes also expose Dr. Roger Luncheon as having caused to be tendered, through Mr. Adrian Smith, Attorney-at-Law in the Attorney General Chambers, information which he must have known to have been false. Mr. Smith informed the Court on May 6, 2015 that he was in possession of a letter from Dr. Roger Luncheon stating that he, Luncheon, had resigned from his office as Secretary to the Cabinet and Secretary to the Defence Board on March 18, 2015. Cabinet Paper (2015) 4.3.J clearly bears the royal signature of Dr. Luncheon, and no doubt he will have to explain the presence of his signature on the Minutes. Otherwise he could be brought up for perjury.