Lawyer says sacked deputy PS is victim of campaign to oust her
The lawyer for dismissed Deputy-Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture Prema Ramanah-Roopnarine yesterday said his client is the victim of a “smear campaign” that was intended to oust her from the ministry.
Ramanah-Roopnarine was dismissed last month, days after being charged along with five other former members of the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) for allegedly failing to record entries for funds amounting to over $250 million in total in the agency’s general ledger in the period 2011 to 2015.
Her attorney, Sase Gunraj, yesterday issued a press statement on her behalf and charged that there was a campaign designed to ultimately terminate RamanahRoopnarine’s services “as part of an ongoing campaign of discrimination against certain individuals, particularly females who are qualified and competent professionals.”
Ramanah-Roopnarine; Jagnarine Singh, former GRDB General Manager; Ricky Ramraj, agricultural consultant; Badrie Persaud, business consultant; Dharamkumar Seeraj, the General Secretary of the Rice Producers Association and a PPP/C MP; and Nigel Dharamlall, also a PPP/C MP were last month read charges for allegedly failing to record entries for funds amounting to over $250 million in total in the agency’s general ledger between 2011 and 2015.
Addressing the charges brought by the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) against RamanahRoopnarine as a board member of the GRDB, the statement said, “we are constrained from divulging any information that would prejudice the outcome of the ongoing legal matter, suffice to say we remain confident that the Courts will vindicate Mrs. Ramanah-Roopnarine as the charges are clearly malicious and were carefully coordinated to culminate with her dismissal.”
It was stated that this position becomes even more obvious since according to International Financial Reporting Standards, management is responsible for implementing internal controls which will result in true and fair preparation of the financial statements.
The statement said that the auditor should have expressed an opinion as to whether the financial statements were prepared without material misstatements. “Neither of the foregoing is the responsibility of the Board or its individual members,” it noted.
An audit of the GRDB was conducted last year and the findings were forwarded to SOCU for a criminal investigation to be conducted. Earlier this year the unit descended on the board’s office and based on reports seized several items, including documents.
“Interestingly, the audit for which these charges arise, never provided an opportunity to my client to answer any of the allegations/queries contained therein even though she was still employed by the Ministry of Agriculture under whose purview the GRDB falls,” the statement said, while adding that it is clear that “this is nothing short of a witch hunt. This sinister campaign will no doubt be unraveled and laid bare as the trial progresses.”
The statement noted that on May 24, 2017, Ramanah-Roopnarine was served with a letter from the Agriculture Ministry’s Personnel Department dismissing her with immediate effect. No grounds or reasons were advanced to justify terminating the services of someone who has served with distinction for over 10 years, the statement added, while noting that it was noteworthy that her contract was renewed on February 1, 2017 and was valid until 2020.
The statement said too that records will indicate that Ramanah-Roopnarine, who is a member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and Institute of Internal Auditors, and who is currently completing her final Certified Internal Auditor paper, has been a “tremendous asset” to the Ministry in delivering on its objectives over the last decade.
During her tenure at the ministry, it said, she established accounting manuals, policies and procedures, procurement and disposal boards and other systems designed to achieve and improve transparency and accountability at the ministry and its agencies.
The statement also noted that Ramanah-Roopnarine served under four ministers, managed the ministry in the absence of the Permanent Secretary, and represented the ministry locally and internationally, including before the Public Accounts Committee to address any financial accountability related queries. Over this period also, it was noted, the ministry was able to spend all of its recurrent and a majority of its capital budgets.
“Hence, this arbitrary move by the Ministry simply serves to confirm that indeed there is a campaign of discrimination being waged against certain individuals, particularly professional women,” the statement said.