‘Govt hijacking GYEITI’ – TIGI says in condemning appointment of English as Civil Society Convenor

Nov 17, 2025 News

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Kaieteur News – The Transparency Institute of Guyana Inc (TIGI) has condemned the appointment of Dr. Ivor English as Civil Society Convenor on the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative in Guyana (GYEITI), in light of his massive gold and diamond concessions, reportedly being operated through 17 licenses across a whopping 19,586 acres in the Cuyuni Mining District.

The appointment of English was announced by the Ministry of Natural Resources on November 8, 2025. As the Civil Society Convenor, English who is a member of the religious and mining community will be expected to speak freely on transparency and natural resource governance issues and be able to operate freely and express opinions about the EITI without restraint, coercion or reprisal.

TIGI has made it clear that the appointment of English is null and void, as the body pointed to the flawed process of selection, against the EITI protocols. “Ivor B. English publicly disclosed to the Press on 9 November this year that he may reactivate these mining licenses. The EITI Standard prohibits persons involved in the extractive industries from representing Civil Society – and, therefore, this appointment of Mr English is null and void,” the watchdog body said in a statement on Sunday, penned by former TIGI President, Frederick Collins.

Collins pointed out that a list of bona fide, independent Civil Society representatives was approved or recommended through the Policy Forum Guyana (PFG) process and submitted to the relevant Minister for Letters of Appointment in March/April 2025. This met the requirement in the 2023 EITI Standard which states (1.4 a(ii): “Each stakeholder group must have the right to appoint its own representatives, taking into account pluralistic and diverse representation”.

According to TIGI, there was no response to the list presented to the minister until the International Secretariat informed PFG in late September 2025 that the Minister had launched a parallel process for the selection/appointment of civil society members to the MSG.  To date, the parallel list has not been made public while neither PFG nor any of the MSG-Civic appointees provided with any rationale for the rejection of the list submitted by the group.

TIGI was keen to note that PFG has served honourably as the GYEITI-MSG Civic Convenor, with a robust procedure for nominations and selection of the MSG Civic representatives, who, in turn, have well served the GYEITI MSG up to December 2024.

It therefore believes that the government is seeking to destroy the guardrails of the GYEITI through its single-handed appointment of a convener.  It should be noted that the Ministry had appointed Private Sector Chairman, Mr. Komal Singh as Civil Society Convenor but was forced to replace him, after questions were raised about his eligibility under the rules of EITI Standard (Section 1.3) which debars private sector persons to represent Civil Society.

Singh’s replacement is equally unacceptable according to TIGI who made it clear, “The EITI Standard prohibits persons involved in the extractive industries from representing Civil Society and, therefore, this appointment of Mr. English is null and void.”

The Transparency Institute went on to explain that EITI protocols require Civil Society to be fully, actively and effectively engaged in the EITI process. It stated, “The government is required to ensure that there are no obstacles to civil society participation in the EITI process (and)…must refrain from actions, which result in narrowing or restricting public debate in relation to implementation of the EITI.”

The Multi-Stakeholder Group (MSG) must be independent and able to exercise active and meaningful oversight of all aspects of EITI implementation. The multi stakeholder group must include adequate representation of key stakeholders appointed in open, fair and transparent constituency procedures; make decisions in an inclusive manner; and report to wider constituencies.

Notably, each stakeholder group must have the right to appoint its own representatives, taking into account pluralistic and diverse representation. Further, the nomination process must be independent and free from any suggestion of coercion. Moreover, civil society groups involved in the EITI as members of the multi-stakeholder group must be independent of government and/or companies, both operationally and in policy terms.

Earlier this month, PFG accused government of making a second attempt to control civic appointments in GYEITI through secretive procedures.

“The Minister’s insistence on controlling civic appointments is concerning, particularly given that GYEITI Reports document widespread irregularities and unlawful practices in Guyana’s gold-mining sector,” PFG noted in a statement. Read more here: https://kaieteurnewsonline.com/2025/11/11/gyeiti-appointment-sparks-outrage/

 

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• convener, EITI, Ivor English, Mining, TIGI

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