GECOM fallout: AG Williams calls on Ram to reconsider resignation

In the wake of the resignation of Chartered Accountant and Attorney Christopher Ram from his post on the committee negotiating the establishment of the JOF Haynes Law School, Attorney General Basil Williams has issued a plea to Ram to reconsider the move. Williams, who was at the time being interviewed on the Focal Point by Public Information Coordinator Beverly Alert, took care to stress that he was not making this call on his behalf. The Attorney General invoked the plight of local law students in seeking to beg Ram to return to the table.

“I would suggest to him he shouldn’t abandon the negotiations. It’s not about the AG, it’s about the law students,” he stated. “As you know, it’s a hard time they’re experiencing in Trinidad. The cost to study there is TT$94,000 (G$3 million). So we need to get this thing done.”
Ram had announced that he was stepping down from the committee, just one day after Major General (retired) Joe Singh announced his own resignation as a presidential adviser.
Both Ram and Singh were on the lists submitted by Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo to President David Granger to consider for the post of Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Chairman. Their resignations came days after President David Granger reached outside the 18 nominees to appoint retired Justice James Patterson.
While Singh remained reticent about the motives behind his resignation, Ram was highly critical of Government choosing Justice Patterson for the post. The vocal anti-corruption advocate described the appointment as blatant disregard for good governance.
A number of individuals and organisations spanning a wide cross-section of society have also soundly criticised and condemned the President’s unilateral decision, including the Guyana Bar Association; the Berbice Bar Association; the Private Sector Commission (PSC); the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA) and the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI).
Criticism has also come from the Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) and members of the Diaspora. In addition, the political Opposition filed a legal challenge in the courts on Monday, seeking to revoke Patterson’s appointment.
Law school
In January of this year, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed with the University College of the Caribbean (UCC) and Law College of the Americas (LCA) to open a law school in Guyana.
The undertaking was expected to come to fruition in 2018.