Global EITI board asked to intervene in impasse over local civil society representation

Last Updated on Tuesday, 18 November 2025, 21:24 by Writer

Local and international pressure at the weekend intensified with a decision to invoke the Norway-headquartered Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) to tell the Guyana government to take its hands off the selection process for civil society representatives of the local chapter, Guyana EITI, several civil society organisations said on Tuesday.

The EITI and its chapters around the world make up a global watchdog against corruption in oil and gas, mining and quarrying, forestry, fisheries and other natural resources sectors.

Policy Forum Guyana (PFG) and representatives of EITI chapters in Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, and Australia as well as other oganisations agreed to lobby the EITI Board which meets this week in Armenia, calling for Board endorsement of the position that the Guyana government should have no role in deciding who should be the civil society representatives on the GYEITI’s Multi-Stakeholder Group (MSG).

“A formal intervention stating that the Government of Guyana’s approach to civic appointments is incompatible with the independence of all sectors as required by the EITI Standard 2023,” according to the statement issued by PFG and 18 other local and overseas civil society organisations. The civil society organisations want the EITI Board to issue a public statement in this regard.

The organisation said messages of solidarity were received at Saturday’s meeting from EITI-Peru and EITI-Ukraine.

The statement said during Saturday’s meeting, PFG emphasised that the core issue is not the reinstatement of the PFG as ‘convenor’ of the civic component of the MSG. Rather, the concern is the ruling party’s attempt to capture the GYEITI MSG politically.

The organisations said despite already exerting significant influence through a GYEITI Secretariat that functions as a department of the Ministry of Natural Resources that controls all financial, staffing, and communications decisions, the government now seeks full control through monopolising selection of MSG members.

Earlier this year, the Ministry of Natural Resources had selected then Chairman of the Private Sector Commission (PSC) Komal Singh to be the convenor of civil society and non-governmental organisations but he was later withdrawn.

After a period of advertising for the post, the natural resources ministry announced the appointment of Dr Ivor English as the convenor of the civil society meeting scheduled for November 20.

He has acknowledged that he is a gold miner and it is possible that he may expand his operations in the future.

Both the Ministry of Natural Resources and Dr English have vouched for his integrity and his role in the church and non-governmental organisations.

Natural resources minister Vickram Bharrat is also on record as saying that Dr English would not be a MSG member and there are rules governing the process for selecting or electing the MSG representatives.

What is civil society?

The Guyana government continues to maintain that the PSC is a civil society organisation. Meanwhile, the European Union Election Observation Mission in its final report on the September 1 general and regional elections that was published on Tuesday said, “Most prominent domestic observers were professional bodies and interest groups, there were no civil society groups observing these elections.”

When asked at a news conference whether the PSC was a civil society organisation, EUEOM electoral analyst Kai Schaefer said, “The Private Sector Commission has, of course, a long standing experience in observing elections but its main purpose is it’s a business organisation.” He added that “when we talk about independent citizen observer organisations, they would fit in a different category.”

For their part, the civil society actors that met on Saturday, according to their statement, said the EITI Standard 2023 defines civil society organisations as “non-governmental organisations such as trade unions, issue-based coalitions, faith-based organisations, Indigenous Peoples’ movements, the media, think tanks and foundations,” explicitly recognising the media as part of this space.

The GYEITI and EITI rules clearly define the process for representation of government, business and civil society on the MSG.

The statement issued on Tuesday said the PFG does not recognise the meeting scheduled for later this week as valid, a position also endorsed earlier this week by Transparency Institute of Guyana Inc. (TIGI).

Local participants at Saturday’s meeting included PFG trustees, MSG-Civic selectors, former civic and industry representatives from sectors of the GYEITI MSG, national NGOs, and Amerindian representatives from three regions. Ten additional invitees submitted apologies, they said.

Speaking specifically for itself in the statement, PFG said the current impasse could be resolved by returning to the point at which this misinterpretation that the MSG ceased to exist arose and re-establishing compliance with the EITI Standard 2023. That organisation also recommended that several steps be taken locally and endorsed by the EITI International Board. They include the minister reconvening the co-chairs of the previous MSG to review and approve any proposed approach to MSG selection going forward, and validation of the lists of nominees by the co-chairs originally submitted by the extractive industries and civil society sectors as an interim measure to allow the MSG to resume its work.

Further, PFG said the EITI’s International Board should consider launching an early Validation, assessing Guyana’s readiness and compliance with EITI requirements. In preparation, PFG said a sub-committee should be established to develop long-term recommendations for public consultation. Members of this committee should include former MSG representatives from all three sectors.

Those signing the statement are the

1. Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) – Dr Michelle Kalamandeen
2. Guyana Organisation of Indigenous Peoples (GOIP) – Colin Klautky
3. Amerindian People Association (APA) – Graham Atkinson
4. Transparency Institute Guyana Inc (TIGI)
5. Red Thread -Wintress White
6. Access to Information – Alfred Bhulai
7. North Rupununi District Development Board (NRDDB) – Mike Williams
8. Guyana Workers Union (GWU) Norris Witter
9. Policy Forum Guyana Selection Committee Chair – Alim Hosein
10. Guyana Society of the Blind – Cecil Murray (President)
11. Greenheart Movement – Sherlina Nageer
12. East Coast Development Committees – Merle Mendonca
13. Sr. Marie Harper OSU
14. The Breadfruit Collective – Christine Samwaroo
15. Stitching Projekta (Suriname) – Rayah Bhattacharji
16. Fishermen and Friends of the Sea (FFOS) – Gary Aboud
17. Derecho, Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (DAR) – Vanessa Cueto
18. Monique Poole – Director of Green Heritage Fund Suriname
19. Trinidad and Tobago Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (TTEITI) – Gregory McGuire