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28 groups call for restoration of independence to GYEITI body
(Kaieteur News) – A total of 28 anti-corruption groups spanning Africa, Europe, Asia, the Americas and Guyana have joined in calling for the restoration of an independent process for the selection of civil society representatives to the governing Multi-Stakeholder Group (MSG) of the Guyana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (GYEITI).
Last year Policy Forum Guyana (PFG), the former convenor of the civic component of the MSG of the GYEITI flagged the appointment of Dr. Ivor English as the new convenor by the government, which it accused of trying to control the group.
In a press statement on Monday, PFG pointed out that independent oversight through the MSG is a core requirement of the global EITI Standard and weakening the independence of the civil society constituency risks undermining the transparency mechanisms designed to monitor Guyana’s rapidly expanding oil, gas, and mining sectors.
The body was keen to note that this issue comes at a time when Guyana’s extractive sector continues to transform the country’s development trajectory.
PFG said that Guyanese have been urged to view the country’s revenue stream from oil as a sudden “windfall” as exciting as winning the lottery. In reality, PFG noted that under the current contractual arrangement with the producer, ExxonMobil the Stabroek Block partners enjoy an “overwhelming share” of the value extracted, while Guyana retains a small portion of the profits.
“Civil society advocates warn that if natural resources are sold under such conditions without strong oversight, transparency, and long-term fiscal planning, the result will not be national prosperity but the depletion of national assets,” the group stated while emphasizing the importance of transparency in the management of the sector.
It said that the next generation of Guyanese can inherit significant public debt and depleted natural resources without receiving the benefits those resources were expected to generate. This becomes a growing concern with notable delays in parliamentary financial oversight and increasing politicization of institutions responsible for natural resource management.
To this end, PFG said it launched an international signature campaign with support from the Resource Justice Network calling for the restoration of a legitimate GYEITI process in full compliance with the EITI Standard.
As such, it explained that support for the campaign has come from transparency, anti-corruption, environmental justice, and human rights organizations across Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas, including the Albanian Centre for Development and Integration; Asia Pacific Transition Mineral Accountability Working Group; The Association for the Promotion of Rights and Development – Senegal (ASPRODDEL – L’Association pour la Promotion des Droits et du Développement); AGAGES Management Consultants (AGAGES – Agir pour Garantir la Gouvernance Économique et Sociale); CartoCrítica, Mexico; Centre for Transparency Advocacy / Koyenum Immalah Foundation; Centro de Integridade Pública (Mozambique); CRADEC (Centre Régional Africain pour le Développement Endogène et Communautaire); Derecho Ambiente y Recursos Naturales – DAR (Peru); Dynamique Mondiale des Jeunes (DMJ); Espace de Solidarité et de Coopération de l’Oriental (Morocco); Fundación Ciudadanía y Desarrollo (Transparency International Ecuador) and several others from Kenya, Ghana, Mongolia, Yemen, Trinidad and Tobago, Niger, Suriname, India and Guyana to name a few.
PFG said the diversity of endorsements demonstrates that the GYEITI issue is not simply a domestic administrative matter but a test of whether global transparency standards can withstand political interference.
Further, it explained, “These groups argue that the controversy highlights a deeper structural issue: Guyana still lacks a coherent natural resources policy grounded in intergenerational equity, fiscal prudence, and the preservation of national wealth.”
As such, PFG urged that ensuring transparency and genuine stakeholder participation in the management of Guyana’s natural resources is not merely a technical requirement of the EITI Standard, but a fundamental to safeguarding the country’s long-term development and ensuring that the benefits of resource extraction are shared fairly among present and future generations.
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