Several transparency advocates have deemed the Government’s creation of a Ministerial Plenary to be unconstitutional and illegal. But one legal mind sees it differently. Attorney-at-Law, Roysdale Forde says the Ministerial Plenary is absolutely legal.
During an interview with the Guyana Standard, Forde argued that Guyana’s Constitution provides for an Executive President and all the powers of office and the State of Guyana are vested in him.
Forde said,“…There is nothing in the Constitution which says the President shall only act on the advice of Cabinet…It, therefore, means he can exercise all the functions of Cabinet, with or without the existence of that body… It also means he can have a Ministerial Plenary that has all the powers of Cabinet…There is nothing stopping him from doing so.”
The Guyana Standard then reminded that the Procurement Act 2003 mentions a Cabinet noting contracts but it says nothing of a Ministerial Plenary.
To this, Forde retorted that since the High Court gave a ruling that Cabinet ceased to exist following the passage of a No-Confidence Motion, there has been no role of the body when it comes to noting contracts.
He said, “The Procurement Act says Cabinet may offer its no-objection… The Ministerial Plenary is not doing this. It is noting contracts. It is basically acknowledging what contracts have been given out by the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB). It is merely noting and you don’t need a law for that…”
While Forde hold those views, the Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo and head of Transparency International Guyana Inc. (TIGI), Dr Troy Thomas are in agreement that the Ministerial Plenary has no legal basis. In fact, Jagdeo has called on public servants to seek legal advice before signing off on decisions from the said plenary.
