APNU/AFC concedes party not paramount over Govt

…US lobbying firm now hired by party, not Guyana Govt

The coalition A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change (APNU/AFC) has retained the services of the disclaimed US lobby firm JJ&B LLC for an additional three months for a US$24,000 fee.
The paperwork was filed with the US State Department as an amendment to a previous filing which had named its client as the Government of Guyana, with the Ministry of the Presidency listed at the official contact address.
Caretaker President David Granger had denied that Government hired the US lobby firm when the information came to light, despite documents filed with the US State Department suggesting this was the case.
Granger’s denial also came a day after his then Director General of the Ministry of the Presidency, Joseph Harmon, in defending Government as hiring the company said “we believe as a Government, it was our duty, our responsibility to ensure that our narrative, the facts as they occurred, should be placed there [on the international stage]. We felt it was necessary to have a company that has that access to be able to put out our side.”
Granger later recanted this position saying, “the Government of Guyana has not hired JJ&B LLC and has no contractual arrangement or affiliation with the said firm. No Government funds were used to hire the firm.”
The denial was made despite the document stating pellucidly that the Guyana Dossier was prepared on behalf of the Government.
New documents filed with the US State Department has now revealed that the contract has been amended to reflect that the “foreign principal we will be representing is the APNU/AFC coalition instead of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana.”
The amendment to the documents also now lists the contact address as Lot 61 Hadfield Street, Georgetown.
Legal observers have since opined that acknowledgement of the change in client from the Government of a country to a political party inherently confirms that the contract with the US lobby firm originally was with the Government of Guyana.
The new contract, this time with the coalition as the principal, has as its signatories, Harmon identified as the coalition’s Chairman and David Patterson, the AFC’s General Secretary.
Additionally, it was noted in the filings that the parties “have agreed to make this contract retroactive to April 15, 2020.”
The first contract is dated March 26, last for an initial retainer of US$40,000 for the month of April.
According to the newly filed documents, the amendments reflect a limit of the initial duration to three months and that the contract could be renewed for another three months.
The amendments were filed by Bart Fisher on April 20, last.
Fisher, Harmon and Patterson on that day too, also inked an agreement with the company, outlining the scope of activities.
According to Fisher in those documents, “we look forward to working with the APNU+AFC coalition on issues related to the electoral disputes now confronting Guyana.”
In outlining its scope of services, Fisher indicated to the APNU/AFC officials that it will be promoting the coalition’s interests through a range of lobbying projects.
These include contacts with the Executive Office of the President of the United States, including the National Security Council, the US State Department, the Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee and contacts with the media “designed to improve the perception” of the coalition.
The US firm was also contracted to promote economic development efforts in Guyana including with US companies.
According to Fisher, the projects identified will cost the coalition Government a monthly US$40,000 retainer fee, payable within 10 days of the first month.