Ramson does nothing for two years 

Apr 23, 2017 News

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-Government unable to remove him

Even with a new government in place for nearly two years, the Commissioner of Information, Charles Ramson Snr. is still not fulfilling his duties as set out in the laws governing his office.

According to his subject minister, First Vice President, Moses Nagamootoo, Ramson has not submitted a single report on his work since the APNU+AFC took over. In fact, the Prime Minister added that Ramson is yet to submit outstanding reports since his office was established in 2013.
Nagamootoo acknowledged that he is aware of calls by Guyanese for greater transparency and value for money when it comes to the office of the Commissioner of Information. He also admitted that this is one of the offices that have not functioned, yet salaries continue to be paid.
“I have not received any report from him. I have given advice as to what I think should happen. You have the Act that has a defined role for the Minister but you have a contract under which he was employed. The Commissioner had been employed by the Office of the President and as you know, he who hires can fire,” Nagamootoo said.
He added, “I don’t have a role in the contract process but I still tendered my advice.”
Given that state of affairs, Nagamootoo was asked if he feels his hands are tied in holding Ramson accountable for how ineffective he has been.
The Prime Minister said, “The Act states that he is to submit reports and if he didn’t do what he is supposed to do under law, then the Minister will have to go to the other stage of whether or not you can retain such a person…
“Then you will have to go to the agency under which the person is hired. Since only that agency would have the responsibility to do something about it, I have indicated my concern and I have tendered some advice.”
Nagamootoo said he has observed comments from critics who are calling for amendments to the Access to Information Act, in an effort to ensure that the office is more effective under the new administration.
The First Vice President said that the Act was well intentioned and is expansive, but he would not say at this point that the problem really lies with the potency of the legislation. Nagamootoo also stated that he is not ruling out the possibility of amendments to it.
He said that the question is not if the Act is deficient, but whether the functions of the Commissioner are being carried out. He said that the latter is his most salient concern. He also reflected on the fact that the Commissioner of Information has pending litigation against him; as such he is censored from being as expansive as he might desire to be on this matter.

“The advice I gave has been forwarded to the Attorney General, Basil Williams, for an opinion and since that time, the incumbent Commissioner has sued me. So I am circumscribed from being expansive on the issue as much as my heart is burning that money is being wasted. There is nothing under the contract that I can do,” Nagamootoo expressed.
Every month, Charles Ramson Snr. collects an attractive $2M package to ensure that citizens have easy access to information. But after a review of the operation of his office, the former Chief Justice has been constantly accused of thwarting the process.
For this reason and others, former Auditor General, Anand Goolsarran, has said that he is convinced that taxpayers are not getting value for money when it comes to the Commissioner of Information.
Goolsarran said that every month, citizens are saddled with supporting an approximately $2M salary for Ramson when his efforts deny citizens’ right to access to information.
The Chartered Accountant had said, “Mr. Ramson’s basic salary is at least $1.5 million per month. Along with other benefits and allowance, it would exceed $2 million. Also, one recalls his ‘no money, no love’ reaction to Transparency Institute Guyana Inc. (TIGI) when it requested certain information.
In this regard, Ramson cited the then Opposition-controlled National Assembly’s cutting off of funds for the then Office of the President under which he operated…”The Commissioner should have been held accountable for denying TIGI access to the requested information.”
The Chartered Accountant stated that what compounds the issue is that Parliament is yet to receive a report on the application of the Access to Information Act as well as the operations of Ramson’s office.
According to the Act governing Ramson’s office, the responsible Minister, should, “as soon as practicable but not later than nine months, after the end of each year lay a report on the operation of this (Access to Information) Act in the National Assembly.”
The Act also states that the said report should include the number of requests made to the Commissioner of Information; the number of applications for judicial review of decisions and the outcome of those applications; the number of complaints made to the Commissioner of Information with respect to the operation of the Act and the nature of those complaints; the number of notices served upon the Commissioner of Information and the number of decisions by the Commissioner which were adverse to the person’s claim.
Goolsarran noted that the handing over of annual reports to the National Assembly is a key requirement of the law.
He said that the failure of the Commissioner’s office in this regard stymies any effort to carry out an assessment on the effectiveness of the Access to Information Act. The former Auditor General said this is a significant shortcoming in attempts to provide citizens and organizations with access to information of government programmes and activities.
Additionally, there have been accusations to the effect that Ramson has not been forthcoming when requests are made to him by members of the public. However, Ramson is of the opinion that it is the public that is not making use of him as he has received fewer than 16 applications since he assumed the position.
In response to Ramson’s claims in this regard, Goolsarran said that the main reason for the public not utilizing his services is that people do not have any confidence whatsoever in the present Commissioner.
He said, “Once the Access to Information Act was passed, a Commissioner of Information had to be found. The Donald Ramotar administration handpicked him, knowing full well that the person is totally unsuitable for the position. His appointment was an imposition aimed precisely at producing the opposite results which is denying citizens’ right to access to information. He was the man best suited to do that.”
This newspaper made several attempts to contact Ramson regarding his failure to issue reports over the years. He made it clear however that he has nothing to say to Kaieteur News.

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