Forensic audit reveals…No position at OLPF was ever advertised

Jun 02, 2016 News

It appears that the One Laptop Per Family (OLPF) Project was plagued by issues of unfairness and a lack of

Forensic Auditor,
Chris Ram

transparency from the get-go as forensic auditors have found that not a single position was ever advertised for the Project by those who were managing it.

The auditors from Ram and McRae, Chartered Accountants, cited the position of the Project Manager as a glaring example. The auditors said that Ms. Margo Boyce was hired by the Office of the President on February 1, 2011 as a consultant to undertake the responsibilities of Chairperson of the ICT Hub, One Laptop per Family Initiative.
The auditors noted that Boyce was tasked with a range of responsibilities and was required to report directly to the Planning and Policy Committee operating from the Office of the President. As Chairperson, her basic contracted salary was $150,000 per month but she ceased to be Chairperson on September 30, 2011.
During her tenure as the Chairperson, the auditors found that the Project was managed by the then Minister of Labour, Manzoor Nadir, and Senior Project Manager, Sesh Sukhdeo. The forensic auditing team said that Members of the Planning and Policy Committee included Ms. Gita Raghubir, Kwame McCoy, Anil Singh and Mr. Alexei Ramotar of the E Governance Project, also under the Office of the President.
The auditors said that on October 1, 2011 Ms. Boyce signed an agreement with the Office of the President to perform the duties of Monitoring and Evaluation Consultant. Her duties under the new contract included but were not limited to the implementation of the delivery of goods and services for the One Laptop per Family (OLPF); and the development of the Community Service component for Project.
She agreed to a basic monthly salary of $400,000. However, the Project Manager, Sesh Sukhdeo, in a letter dated November 17, 2011 to Dr. Roger Luncheon, former Head of the Presidential Secretariat, stated that Ms. Boyce’s contract was amended and her new monthly salary was increased to $590,360 effective from October 1, 2011. The concerned auditors noted in their report that there was no documented reason for such an immediate salary increase.
Nevertheless, on August 15, 2012, Boyce was appointed Project Manager at a basic salary of $700,000 per month until July 31, 2015, the effective date of her resignation. Also, it was noted that her principal qualification is a Bachelor of Applied Arts degree.
The auditors noted that Boyce also attended a number of short courses in supervisory management, institutional and organizational assessment, emergency operations centre management and operations, project identification and training and the project management skills course.
They noted however that these were not sufficient for the level of responsibility and the skill requirements for the position of Project Manager.
What was more damning in the eyes of the auditor is that there was no evidence of any advertisement or any application by Ms. Boyce for any of the positions in the OLPF.
The forensic auditors also cited the position of the Deputy Project Manager. The forensic auditors said that Azariah Asim was hired by the ICT Hub, One Laptop per Family Initiative on April 1, 2011. His initial designation was IT Administrator responsible for the Information Technology Department.
The Ram and McRae auditors said that at that point, Asim was paid a basic monthly salary of $160,000. He was then promoted to Deputy Project Manager on January 1, 2014 at a basic monthly salary of $450,000.
The auditing team said that Asim had no professional or tertiary academic qualification. They noted also that his principal qualifications were IT user applications including Microsoft Office, WordPerfect 6.0, and Corel Draw 7.0.
The forensic auditing team made it clear that an IT administrator is responsible for maintaining the company’s IT network, servers and security systems. They said that this role is absolutely essential within any organization to ensure business continuity if an IT network fails as the impact on the day to day running of the business can be significant, sometimes catastrophic.
They said that any individual appointed to function in the capacity of IT administrator is expected not only to possess general knowledge and basic software proficiencies, but to have extended knowledge and hands on experience in hardware and software installation, troubleshooting and networking.
The auditors expressed that the individual is also expected to possess adequate qualification(s) such as a degree in computer science, information technology, and computer engineering or information system management.
The Ram and McRae accountants said however, that Asim did not have the necessary qualification(s) or relevant experience to operate within his initial designated position and even less, as Deputy Project Manager.
They said, “It is perhaps relevant to note that Mr. Asim is the son of former PPP Member of Parliament and Parliamentary Secretary for the Ministry of Health, Mr. Joseph Hamilton.”
The One Laptop Per Family Project was a national initiative aimed at bridging the digital gap, by providing access to information technology, the internet, training and skills development to families across Guyana, which will enable citizens to become part of the global information and knowledge network.
The OLPF Project was officially launched on January 21, 2011 at the Guyana International Conference Centre. The Project was introduced by the then President, Bharrat Jagdeo, who mentioned that “the objective of the venture is to enhance Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and create opportunities for the beneficiaries of the laptops.”
Based on statements made by Mr. Jagdeo during the Project’s launch, the Government of Guyana had initially planned to acquire and distribute 90,000 laptops to low income families in Guyana. However, the Project acquired only 55,145 laptops, of which 50,009 were distributed.