On 5 June 2026, the Minister of Finance tabled in the National Assembly Bill No. 10 of 2026 – Former Presidents (Benefits and Other Facilities). The Bill attempts to restore the unlimited benefits to former Presidents that were granted via Act No. 12 of 2009. Concerned about the extent of the uncapped benefits, APNU and the AFC, which held the majority in the Assembly, passed legislation in 2013 to place ceilings on these benefits. However, the then President Donald Ramotar withheld assent to the related Bill but approved of increasing the amount for utilities to $75,000 per month. On assuming the reins of government in 2015, the David Granger Administration passed the Former Presidents (Benefits and Other Facilities) Act 2015 to limit these benefits.
In today’s article, we outline the provisions of the 2009 and 2015 legislation as well as Bill No. 10 of 2026.
Former Presidents (Benefits and Other Facilities) Act 2009
The Act was passed in the Assembly on 30 April 2009 and assented to by the then President Bharrat Jagdeo on 28 May 2009. It states that every person who having held the office of President and ceased to hold that office by virtue of the provisions of Article 92 of the Constitution or otherwise shall be entitled to the following benefits during the remainder of his/her lifetime:
(a) Payment in respect of the expenses incurred in the provision and use of water, electricity and telephone services at the place of residence in Guyana.
(b) Services of personal and household staff including an attendant and a gardener.
(c) Services of clerical and technical staff, if requested.
(d) Free medical attendance and medical treatment or reimbursement of medical expenses incurred by him/her for the medical attendance or treatment of himself and dependent members of his family.
(e) Full-time personal security and services of the Presidential Guard Service at the place of residence.
(f) Provision of motor vehicles owned and maintained by the State.
(g) Toll free road transportation in Guyana.
(h) Annual vacation allowance equivalent to the cost of two first class return airfares provided on the same basis as that granted to serving members of the Judiciary.
(i) Tax exemption status identical to that enjoyed by a serving President.
The Minister may, subject to negative resolution of the Assembly, make regulations for giving effect to the provisions of the Act. It is not clear whether any such regulations have been made.
Former Presidents (Benefits and Other Facilities) Act 2015
The 2009 legislation was repealed and replaced by the 2015 Act which passed in the Assembly in July 2015. According to the Explanatory Memorandum, the new Act provides greater specificity and takes into account the former President’s eligibility for a pension amounting to 7/8’s of his/her salary while in office. It was also in keeping with Resolution No. 22 passed by the Assembly on 2 August 2012 which sought to render the conditions acceptable and predictable and to place a limit on the benefits, including tax free concessions.
During the presentation of the related Bill, former Minister of Finance Winston Jordan denounced the previous legislation as ‘vulgar, lacking moral values, and an insult to hardworking taxpayers that have had to foot the bill’. He stated that a former President at the time was in receipt of $1.4 million which would be automatically increased whenever a sitting President’s salary is increased and that in such a scenario a former President could enjoy a pension larger than his/her income at the time he/she demits office. Mr. Jordan further argued that:
The uncapped, taxpayer-funded benefits package reflects a level of arrogance, self-righteousness and entitlement that degrades servant leadership…and disregards the plight of lower and middle-class families whose taxes are funding these exorbitant, excessive, uncapped benefits.
According to the Act, every person who has held the office of President substantively shall be entitled to the following benefits and facilities:
(a) Payment in respect of expenses incurred for the provision and use of water, electricity and telephone up to $25,000 each per month at that person’s habitual place of residence in Guyana.
(b) Services of personal and household staff, including a gardener, provided that the total number of such staff shall not exceed three persons, including any member of the staff who may be on earned vacation or sick leave
(c) Services of clerical and technical staff not exceeding three, if requested, retained for non-political purposes related to the status of former President or to any State related task or assignment to the former President officially and for which no additional remuneration is payable.
(d) Subject to a financial limit of $200,000 per annum, free medical attention and treatment or reimbursement of medical expenses incurred by a former President for himself/herself and his/her children below the age of 18 years, and the spouse of the former President. The reimbursement shall not be given where any attention and treatment obtained abroad or at private health facilities in Guyana were available in Guyana at government institutions.
(e) Full time personal security, not exceeding two persons including the services of the President Guard Service at the place of residence of the former President.
(f) Provision of not more than two motor vehicles owned and maintained by the State.
(g) Toll free transportation.
(h) Annual vacation allowance equivalent to the cost of two first class return airfares provided on the same conditions applicable to judges of the Supreme Court of Judicature.
(i) No tax exemption, concessions or privileges on benefits and facilities.
A former President shall cease to be entitled to the above benefits and other facilities if he/she engages in business, trade or paid employment or is convicted of a criminal offence for which a term of imprisonment is imposed. The Minister may, subject to affirmative resolution of the National Assembly, make regulations for the due administration of the Act.
Bill No. 10 of 2026 – Former Presidents (Benefits and Other Facilities)
The Bill repeats the content of the 2009 legislation, thereby removing the ceilings placed on the various benefits and facilities that are currently in place. According to the Explanatory Memorandum, the Bill seeks to put into law certain benefits and facilities to be enjoyed by every former President which are considered necessary during the remainder of their lifetime.
We must, however, note the provision for the reinstatement of tax exemption status similar to that of a sitting President. Additionally, the Bill removes the requirement for the benefits and facilities provided to a former President to cease if he/she is engaged in business, trade or paid employment or is convicted of a criminal offence for which a term of imprisonment is imposed. If the Bill is passed, the current President is likely to receive the benefits and facilities provided when he demits office in 2030, notwithstanding his ownership of a large tract of land and his engagement in commercial farming and livestock rearing on the Linden/Soesdyke Highway. This would be an enormous cost to the taxpayer if he chooses the property as his habitual place of residence. The Attorney General, however, rejected the claim that the Bill is intended only to benefit the President when he demits office.
One may also legitimately ask whether former Presidents Sam Hinds and Bharrat Jagdeo have ceased to enjoy the above benefits and facilities as a consequence of the 2015 Act, considering that they are in full-time employment as Guyana’s Ambassador the United States in the case of the former, and Guyana’s Opposition Leader and later Vice President in the case of the latter. The Attorney General argued that the 2015 legislation has no effect since it could not have been applied retrospectively. However, Mr. Jordan disagreed and stated that the 2015 Act applies equally to all former Presidents because it repealed the 2009 legislation and does not contain any provision preserving the unlimited benefits enjoyed by former Presidents under the earlier law. In the circumstances, the Ministry of Finance may wish to issue a statement of clarification on this matter.
Reaction from key stakeholders
The Working People’s Alliance (WPA) has called on Guyanese, including trade unions, religious organisations, community groups, youth bodies, private sector representatives and other civic organisations to join a peaceful protest against Bill No. 10 of 2026 that would once again give former Presidents unlimited benefits. According to a WPA’s spokesperson, if the benefits are uncapped, the three former presidents- Samuel Hinds, Bharrat Jagdeo, Donald Ramotar – would incur an estimated additional $100 million to $200 million annually on top of the 7/8ths of the current President’s more than $3 million salary, while the 76,000 old age pensioners are earning $46,000 monthly.
One former PNCR member argued that many Guyanese are struggling with the rising cost of living and limited quality of health care and education. She considered the Bill unconscionable since it places a heavy financial burden on the people. Opposition Member of Parliament Ganesh Mahipaul added his voice by stating also that the proposed changes are unconscionable and an ‘insult to hardworking, taxpaying Guyanese, a blatant eye-pass to the public, and an open invitation for the abuse of state resources’. He asserted that: (i) the 2015 Act did not deny former Presidents’ reasonable benefits and protections but introduced transparency and accountability; and (ii) repealing those safeguards and returning to a system of uncapped and unrestricted benefits is inappropriate, especially at a time when citizens are demanding greater accountability in the management of public resources. Accordingly, Mr. Mahipaul has called for the Bill to be referred to a bipartisan parliamentary select committee for detailed scrutiny.
Discussion