Minister with responsibility for information, Kwame McKoy yesterday lambasted former Telecommunications Minister Catherine Hughes for calling out the current administration about its US$35M contract with a German company for a national electronic identification (ID) card.
Hughes, during a press conference on Friday joined with the opposition which raised questions about data security and the possible motive behind this technological advancement. Both APNU and AFC raised concerns in two separate press conferences about the preservation and protection of vital information.
But according to Minister McKoy, the system has tremendous benefits in transforming Guyana into a modern society. He also noted that the concerns raised by Hughes were all baseless. Minister McKoy then pointed to previous allegations laid against Hughes about mismanagement and corruption.
“There are published media reports with supporting evidence where Cathy’s private company received millions in contracts from the Government through her ministry. This is deceitful and distasteful for someone who parades in the public as miss-prim and proper. There are many more corrupt deals in which she was implicated. Therefore, Cathy is… unfit to address issues of governance,” McKoy said.
He then raised several questions about the liberalization of the Telecommunications Industry, while she was the subject Minister. “Why was the liberalization of the industry stalled for several years even though the enabling legislation was passed by the National Assembly in 2016?”
He then accused members of the opposition of scuttling projects of the current regime by requesting information, and then using the information, which he said is shared in the “spirit of transparency”, to “extort stakeholders” in the project.
“The PPP/C Government will continue to fight off aggressively any of the Cathys of this world and any attempt to castigate us as being anything other than a government that is genuinely and sincerely working for the betterment and advancement of the country,” McKoy said.
