AG flags Office of the President purchase of 100,000 birth certificates

Nov 14, 2022 News

– Special investigation launched

Kaieteur News – The Auditor General has launched a special investigation into the procurement of 100,000 birth certificates by the Office of the President. This was revealed in the AG’s report which was released last week.

According to the report the sum of $288.098M was expended for print and non-print materials by OP. The report stated that included in the said sum were amounts totalling $18.599M, which represented full payments on two contracts for the acquisition of 100,000 birth certificates. The contracts were awarded by the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board through the
single source method of procurement, the AG report stated. According to the report, the ministry in its request to NPTAB to utilise the single source method of procurement stated that blank birth certificates are printed with highly sensitive security features which are confidential.

The ministry also stated that the incumbent supplier and its ‘sister company’ had successfully delivered on previous contracts and have proven to be reliable, confidential and provided ‘high-quality security-features enable blank certificates’. At the time of this report a special investigation was being conducted into the said acquisition of birth certificates.

Only last year August, government used its majority in Parliament to pass the Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Bill 2021. At the time Minister of Home Affairs, Robeson Benn, MP, said a birth certificate is a critical representation of one’s citizenship and there are many instances where persons have faced challenges acquiring this document. “Sometimes the process and systems work against people in the interior communities, particularly people who we have to acknowledge are the First Peoples of Guyana and who by any means necessary should obtain a birth certificate,” he said.

The amendment adds a new clause that allows an adult with no original document containing particulars of his or her birth or record of birth, to be issued a certificate after being validated by a high standing person in their community which includes a Toshao. Minister Benn said then that the previous Department of Citizenship was accused of working against the interest of persons getting a birth certificate. He said this is coupled with the discovery of fake stamps that were used to stamp birth certificates and other documents at the General Register Office.

“Our efforts now in bringing the amendments to the Registration of Births and Deaths, relates to strengthening the measures by which persons can validly be given their birth certificate, that we expand the architecture in respect of places where people could get documentation to prove that they were born as Guyanese citizens. “That we can ensure that there is a track record, that there is a paper trail in respect of ensuring that we can go back up the ladder to assure that documentation which is presented is valid, that we speed up the ability of persons to get birth certificates.” The Minister said the delay in issuing birth certificates conflicts with the rights of Guyanese to have in their possession first form of identification.