The Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU), the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU), and the umbrella body Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC), which challenged President Granger’s powers to issue the first COVID-19 regulations back in March 2020 have withdrawn their application.

The unions were contending that the former President acted outside of powers conferred under Section 21 of the Public Health Ordinance when he issued the regulations.

The case was set to get underway this morning before Chief Justice Roxanne George, but Attorney Darren Wade expressed his clients’ intentions to discontinue the case explaining that the state has since corrected the issue, now that the Central Board of Health has assumed its full responsibility of issuing and managing COVID-19 regulations.

The application had explained that in the absence of action by the National Assembly, which could add COVID-19 to the list of diseases in the section, the Central Board of Health is not empowered under section 21 (1) to make regulations in relation to its management.

The Unions explained in their application that Section 21 empowers the Central Board of Health to create regulations to manage the treatment and spread of specific diseases and that the President is only empowered to make such regulations that the Central Board of Health is itself empowered to make. 

The Unions also contended that by continuing to delegate to the Ministry of Health the power to create regulations in relation to COVID-19, the President violated the legal principle in constitutional and administrative law that says “no delegated powers can be further delegated

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