Guyana to finally get Public Procurement, Judicial Service Commissions

– Pres Ali to also swear in Teaching Service Commission on Friday

Guyana will finally get a Public Procurement Commission (PPC), Judicial Service Commission (JSC) and Teaching Service Commission (TSC), as President Dr Irfaan Ali, who only returned from Suriname on Monday is set to swear in the members on Friday.
This announcement was made by the Attorney General Chambers and Ministry of Legal Affairs on Tuesday.
“The members of the Judicial Service Commission, the Teaching Service Commission and the Public Procurement Commission shall be sworn in on Friday, July 1, 2022, by His Excellency, President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali at the Office of the President, Shiv Chanderpaul Drive, Bourda, Georgetown,” the Attorney General Chambers said.
The PPC already has a list of nominees waiting to be sworn in. In April, approval was given by the National Assembly for the nominees to the PPC to be sworn in. These nominees include Attorney-at-Law Pauline Chase, Financial Analyst Joel Bhagwandin, Berkley Wickham, Rajnarain Singh and Diana Rajkumar.
The PPC has the vital role of overseeing contract approvals and mediating contractor complaints. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which is responsible for approving members of this commission, as well as requesting background checks on candidates, had been engaged in the process of seeking members since last year before the five names were finally arrived at in January.
Among the PPC’s key functions are, according to the Procurement Act, to “Monitor and review the functioning of all procurement systems to ensure that they are in accordance with law and such policy guidelines as may be determined by the National Assembly; promote awareness of the rules, procedures and special requirements of the procurement process among suppliers, constructors and public bodies; safeguard the national interest in public procurement matters, having due regard to any international obligations; monitor the performance of procurement bodes with respect to adherence to regulations and efficiency in procuring goods and services and execution of works; approve of procedures for public procurement, disseminate rules and procedures for public procurement; and recommend modifications thereto to the public procurement entities.”

The PPC has in the past intervened in contracts when there was a discrepancy with the procurement of the contractor. One of the most famous cases of this was the sole-sourced consultant for the design and feasibility study of the new Demerara River Bridge.
The Procurement Commission conducted a probe into the award of the feasibility study and design contract and had flagged the then Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson for requesting from Cabinet that the $148 million contract be sole-sourced. This subsequently resulted in them calling in the Auditor General.
When it comes to the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), Article 198 (1) of the Constitution of Guyana states that the members must be comprised of the Chancellor of the Judiciary, who will be appointed as Chairman, the Chief Justice, the Chairman of the Public Service Commission and any other members appointed to the Commission.
There has been no JSC since 2017. The last Justice Commission was appointed by former President Donald Ramotar on September 11, 2014. The tenure of each appointed member is for three years, therefore, the tenure of the last commission expired on September 12, 2017. Among other things, the function of the JSC is to advise the President on the appointment of Judges, with the exception of the Chancellor and the Chief Justice.
The JSC’s powers include the power to make appointments, to remove and to exercise disciplinary control over persons holding or acting in the following offices – Commissioner of Title, Magistrate, Director of Public Prosecutions, Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, Registrar of the High Court, Deputy Registrar of the High Court, Registrar of Deeds and Deputy Registrar of Deeds and to such offices connected with the courts or for appointment to which legal qualifications are required as may be prescribed by Parliament.
Meanwhile, the Teaching Service Commission (TSC) was last appointed in 2018. Persons appointed to serve on the Commission were: Chief Education Officer Marcel Hutson (ex-officio), Avril Crawford, Alan Munroe, Elizabeth Ramlall, Amjad Ali Shaw, Debra Thomas, and Barbara Thomas-Holder.