Gibbs had no authority to enter into contract for surveillance plane

The Express newspaper reported Sunday that a report from Solicitor General Eleanor Donaldson Honeywell has stated that Commissioner of Police Dwayne Gibbs did not have the authority to award of a contract to Zenith Air Scout Surveillance Aircraft for use of a surveillance aircraft.

The contract is for a 12-week period and is valued at about $902,772.00. The opposition first matter of the contract in the Parliament, suggesting that something was not right about the contract.

 

The Expressed quoted from the report: “The supposition of the CoP that as Accounting Officer he was authorised to act for the Central Tenders Board in procurement, resulting in the engagement of a contract valued up to $1 million was unfounded." The SG said only a Permanent Secretary has such authority.

She also said Gibbs did not have the authority to enter into procurement transactions of any dollar value without adhering to the existing Central Tenders Board Act provisions. 

“As Accounting Officer the CoP is required by law to ensure that financial expenditure for the TTPS is duly authorised. He was required to ensure that the CTB procedures were applied. He may therefore be found to have failed to carry out his duties as a public official in this transaction,” she said.

The Solicitor General also said the contract will be ultra vires and void, noting that neither party may be entitled to enforce the agreement even if the contracting company.