Latest update April 4th, 2025 6:13 AM
OP says consultant threatens blackmail on Laptop project
A former senior manager on the government’s One Laptop Per Family (OLPF) is threatening to release “information” on the project unless he receives his severance pay, the Office of the President said yesterday.
Judson Lohmeyer
The Office of the President identified Mr Judson Lohmeyer as the person threatening to blackmail the project.
Lohmeyer had resigned, the Office of the President claimed, after he was criticised for poor performance and disclosures from an investigation into his credentials.
He served as Senior Project Manager in the Office of the President for the OLPF Project for a year, starting in November 2009. He was hired to manage the distribution of 90,000 laptops to Guyanese families to foster Information and Communications Technology skills development in Guyana.
The Office of the President said that he was hired based on his US Peace Corps credentials and ICT experience.
“Lohmeyer is now threatening to release ‘information’ unless he is provided with severance payments. “This foolish attempt by this individual is unlikely to impair the administration’s commitment to the One Laptop per Family initiative,” the Office of the President stated.
While a consultant at the Office of the President, Lohmeyer also doubled as IT and Renewable Energy Consultant with the Iwokrama International Centre for Rainforest Conservation.
Lohmeyer first came to Guyana in early 2008 as a Peace Corps volunteer attached to the Ministry of Education.
He was attached to the National Centre for Educational Resource Development as the Head of ICT. In this capacity he was responsible for the computer lab, computer training and network implementation at the centre.
He was also collaborating with a Volunteer Service Organisation, VSO, volunteer from the UK, formerly from BBC Education, to develop a Multimedia in Distance Learning strategy and implementation.
In this capacity, he was responsible for researching and proposing ICT to support the Ministry of Education’s goal to provide all Guyanese with a primary and secondary education.
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