OPINION: US$214 million audit: Gopinath Gossai is the perfect fall guy

Last Updated on Friday, 6 October 2023, 7:05 by Denis Chabrol

by GHK Lall

Poor Bobby.  So, Mr. Gopinath Gossai (Bobby G) of the Ministry of Natural Resources is the chosen one to carry the burden of falling down on the job in this unending US$214 million Exxon audit mystery.  Now Bobby G is named to be associated with notoriety, one specially selected by his own to go down in infamy.  Don’t cry for Bobby G, fellow Guyanese, he will bounce back for falling on his sword for his friends in the local political cabal.  Trust me on this one, his rewards will come later.  I foresee and I guarantee it.  Maybe, High Commissioner to India.

By way of disclaimer, I have no relationship with Mr. Gossai: never spoke to him, never met him.  But I do know what he is capable of, from absorbing some of his handiwork at the Ministry of Natural Resources.  Indeed, there are some people naturally talented in a special way, and resourceful beyond belief.  Bobby G is such a high caliber person, as his work product attests.  But before anyone runs away with the idea that this is about Mr. Gossai and his purported serious lapses in judgment, I say think about what I now put in the public domain.

If there is one thing that separates Mr. Gossai from the pack, it is that he is a team player, and especially when politics is involved.  The man and the public servant (if that is what he was/is) has a nose for politics and who are the ones to be pleased, as in tender the right degree of obeisance.  He knows how and when to consult.  More importantly, he knows to whom he should escalate, and then how to follow orders, and to the tee.  The beauty about Bobby G is that he is so good at what he does (the cloudy areas), he would do the Germans in the Third Reich one better: he would never admit to following orders.  Not him, which is why I say don’t cry for Bobby.  Good things will happen in due time to this brother doing his bit as the good soldier, taking the hit.  To summarize: Mr. Bobby Gossai was the best man to have around that US$214 million audit and close to the wheeler-dealers.

The whole of Guyana may delight at being this dumb, but not I, sire.  We are led to believe that one man, one worker, one so-called “unauthorized” official acted on his lonesome in a matter involving approximately GY$42 billion, and he decided on his own to surrender GY$40 billion to Exxon.  Simply put, that calls for a lot of reckless adventurousness from Mr. Gossai.  But if there is one thing that could be said of him is that he is no fool.  Mr. Gossai knows how the wind blows, and from which direction, and what elevations.  Yet, we are now ceremoniously informed that Mr. Gossai pulled the trigger [all by himself] in this US$214 million fiasco.  It is not a fiasco but a snafu.  I urge fellow citizens to familiarize themselves with the American translation of snafu.  I give a little heads up: situation normal, all….

Now, I extend congratulations to Natural Resources bosses [whoever they may be] for the masterstroke of fingering one individual: the faithful, agreeable, and available Mr. Bobby Gossai.  A masterstroke it is, because there is only one point of exposure, and Bobby G aint gon taak bout who taak to he.  And should any other ministry official, petro unit presence and contributor in those backdoor (“unauthorized”) negotiations get any bright ideas about spilling the beans about what really went on, and what came down from where, they should remember an investigation like this can always be resurrected.  Meaning, that there could be a change of heart about giving up Bobby only.

All of this fails to pass the smell test, particularly when there is so much micromanagement from the political heights.  If there is anybody in this society who is of the belief that artful politicians would stand aside, and leave something like this US$214 million audit matter to a Bobby G, then they are the Guyanese equivalent of Rip van Winkle.  Slumber some more.  Moving along, the thought came about what saintly Exxon was planning to do with its US$105.5 million, which is its share of the US$211 in audit savings.  Knowing how multinationals possessing the corporate prowess of Exxon operate, I could envision a couple of million US for helpful Guyanese.  Think “unauthorized” and think further, as in who gave them the signal to proceed.

Now, all that is left is this standing circus in Georgetown called the Cabinet.  Most of them hear oil and they think castor oil.  When they hear about audit, the first silent prayer is that it is better that it is someone else, and not one of them under the national microscope.  In the best traditions of all for one, and one for all, Guyana’s cabinet is now going to go through the motions of deliberating and deciding what was an already done deal with Bobby G.  Take the rap and spare bigger ones the rack.  Take this one on the chin, and leave us to come up with the spin.

The PPP Government promised a probe.  Now look at how it did disrobe itself, with this farce.