Ashni Singh appointed Finance Minister – Ramjattan calls move ‘troubling’

After spending years out of the political spotlight, former Minister of Finance Dr. Ashni Singh was yesterday appointed to serve as the senior Minister of Finance by President Irfaan Ali.
Singh took his oath in the presence of Cabinet Ministers and other Government officials at a simple ceremony at the Office of the President (OP) last evening. The OP, in a statement issued after, noted that it will retain its oversight role, but Dr. Singh would be responsible for Finance. Notably, Dr. Singh was not on the government’s list of candidates for the 2020 elections and will therefore serve as a technocrat minister, thereby occupying the second and last technocrat position permitted by law – the other technocrat Minister is Oneidge Walrond-Allicock, Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce.

According to President Ali, Dr. Singh will be part of the team to oversee the agenda of government which include projects, programmes and policies to stimulate growth, expand the country’s economic base and strengthen existing sectors.
Dr. Singh, who is a holder of a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Degree in Accounting and Finance awarded by the University of Lancaster in the United Kingdom, was first appointed as a technocrat Minister of Finance of Guyana on 9 September 2006 under Bharrat Jagdeo, and served in that post until the fall of the Donald Ramotar administration in 2015.

Singh’s appointment comes in the wake of several legal proceedings against him instituted by the former government, most notably fraud charges against him and former head of the National Industrial & Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) Winston Brassington.
According to Kaieteur News reporting, in 2018 Singh and Brassington were jointly slapped with three charges of misconduct in public office related to the sale of three plots of state land. Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan in January 2020 had adjourned the hearing for the proceedings against the two men. The adjournment was granted as the lower court awaits a related ruling of the High Court from Chief Justice, Roxane George-Wiltshire.

After calls to Leader of the Opposition Joseph Harmon went unanswered, this media house contacted former Minister of Public Security and AFC executive, Khemraj Ramjattan for a comment on the appointment.
“It is,” said Ramjattan, “obviously troubling. One would have expected the PPP/C to leave matters in abeyance by leaving him wherever he was. It will be interesting, in my opinion, the future of that Finance Ministry under Ashni Singh again.”