A legal challenge which was mounted against the Government over its handling of the country’s Natural Resources Fund (NRF) has been described as a “nuisance” by Attorney General, Senior Counsel Anil Nandlall.

The Court action was filed by prominent Business Executive, Dr. Terrence Campbell.

Campbell is a member of the NRF Investment Committee and he has been questioning the massive withdrawals from the Natural Resource Fund and compliance with the law and international financial standards.

The Attorney General and the Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh were named as respondents in the matter. The Attorney General has stated that the action is unlikely to succeed.

“These proceedings are not designed to address any legal issues you know, these are nuisance value in law, and they cannot succeed. But they are intended to make political milage, they are intended to gain public acclaim, they are intended to advance political causes and the Courts do not exist for the advancement of those objectives,” Mr. Nandlall stated.

Dr. Campbell has been publicly voicing concern regarding the Government’s use of the Natural Resource Fund, particularly the lack of clear justification for major withdrawals and the apparent absence of comprehensive documentation outlining how these funds are allocated.

But even if that is the case, the Attorney General is arguing that the Court has no power to compel the Government to do otherwise.

“These are not matters of contention and worse yet, they are inviting the Court to make orders that will put the Court in violent breach of the separation of powers doctrine. They are asking the Court to interfere with and worse yet, usurp the functions of both the executive and legislature, they are asking the court to direct the executive on matters on what is of national development priorities, those are matters that are within the domain of the executive,” Mr. Nandlall stated.

In his Court action, Dr. Campbell is arguing that while the Natural Resource Fund is intended to fund national development priorities, it has also been diverted to cover Budget deficits by the Government.

“These proceedings do not allege violations of law, they don’t raise matters of contentions between the parties—genuine matters of contention, these are people who have problems with the manner of governance, they have problems with the manner in which Parliament is functioning,” Mr. Nandlall said.

The NRF was established to manage revenues from Guyana’s oil sector responsibly. Initially introduced through the Natural Resource Fund Act of 2019, the legislation was revised in 2021 to refine Governance mechanisms and enhance transparency.

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