(Kaieteur News) – President Irfaan Ali has appointed a nine-member Public Accountability and Oversight Committee for the Natural Resource Fund (NRF), but the new body does not include a nominee by the National Assembly, as required under the 2021 NRF Act.
According to a Notice in the Official Gazette, dated September 20, 2026, “Cabinet considered Memorandum CP(2026)MOF12/08 presented by the Hon. Senior Minister with Responsibility for Finance and approved the appointment of the following persons to the Board of Directors…”
The Order further states that the appointment shall remain effective for a two-year period, effective from 15th September, 2026 to 18th September, 2028.
President Irfaan Ali
Mr. Abu Zaman, a Representative of the Religious Community, has been appointed Chairman. Meanwhile the members of the Public Accountability and Oversight Committee include the following: Pastor Wendell Jeffrey and Ms. Savitri Balbahadur (representatives of the religious community); Mr. Clement Sealey, Mr. Desmond Sears and Mr. Ryan Alexander as nominees of the private sector and Mr. Gordon Thomas and Ms. Dawn Gardener as representatives of the organised labour as well as Mr. Teni Housty, a representative of the professions.
The Gazetted Order, signed by Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira and dated August 20, 2026 includes a nominee from every other required field with the exception of a representative of the National Assembly.
Section 6 (1) of the NRF Act states “There shall be a Committee to be known as the Public Accountability and Oversight Committee which shall comprise the following members appointed by the President and one of whom shall be appointed Chairperson by the President…”
The Committee is tasked with providing non-governmental oversight of the Fund. In accordance with the Act, the Committee members will meet no less than quarterly with the Board of Directors of the Fund to be briefed on its operations.
The body is also expected to submit an annual report to the Speaker of the National Assembly on the discharge of its functions which is to be laid in Parliament within a specified period.
Opposition Members from leading parties- We Invest in Nationhood and the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU)- confirmed on Tuesday that they have not received any correspondence from government on the subject. In fact, Opposition Leader, Azruddin Mohamed chided government for breaching its own law in appointing members of this key body, intended to provide oversight of the country’s oil wealth.
He argued, “The Government cannot pick and choose which parts of its own law it will obey. The Natural Resource Fund Act expressly provides that the Public Accountability and Oversight Committee shall include a nominee of the National Assembly. Yet the Government has announced the reappointment of the Committee without a National Assembly nominee.”
Mohamed added that this was not a minor administrative omission. Instead, he pointed out, “It goes directly to the independence and credibility of the body charged with providing public oversight of Guyana’s oil wealth. If the law requires representation from the National Assembly, the Government has a responsibility to ensure that requirement is fulfilled rather than proceeding as though it does not exist.”
He stressed the importance of legal compliance and accountability especially in the governance of the country’s natural resources. Mohamed made it clear that the resources from oil belong to the people of the country rather than a political party or administration. To this end, he called for the government to explain the legal basis on which this Committee has been reappointed without the prescribed National Assembly nominee. Furthermore, he demanded that the composition of the committee be corrected to conform to the NRF Act.
“We should not be asking citizens to trust the oversight of billions of dollars in oil revenues while simultaneously disregarding the statutory safeguards Parliament itself established,” the Leader said.
Efforts by this newspaper to contact the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira as well as the Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh for a comment on the issue were unsuccessful. The previous Public Accountability and Oversight Committee comprised the following members, according to the 2025 NRF Annual Report: Mr. Clement Sealey, Chairperson, Ryan Alexander, Savitri Balbahadur, Dawn Gardener, Teni Housty, Pastor Wendell Jeffrey, Dr. Desmond Sears, Aslim Singh and Abu Zaman.
Source: Kaieteur News
