On November 8, local time, Surinamese President Jennifer Simons confirmed that she will hold a dedicated meeting next week with Harish Monorath, the country’s Minister of Justice and Police, to address a formal criminal complaint filed against Monorath tied to ongoing irregularity probes at the Telecommunications Authority Suriname (TAS).
The president made the remarks during her appearance on the Faried Pierkhan-hosted broadcast *Kal Aaj Aur Kal* on a recent Saturday, emphasizing that the government cannot dismiss the gravity of the allegations. She clarified that the executive branch had been monitoring operational anomalies at TAS long before the authority’s current Supervisory Board (RvC) submitted the criminal complaint targeting Monorath — who served as TAS’s former supervisory board chair — and ex-TAS director Wendy Jap-A-Joe. “I will not mislead the public on this matter; this is an extremely serious issue,” Simons stated firmly, noting that the governing coalition has already held preliminary discussions regarding Monorath’s position, prompted in part by earlier parliamentary inquiries from the National Assembly, and the newly filed criminal complaint has escalated the urgency of the situation.
The complaint centers on the formation and implementation of a 2021 employment contract, which was signed by Monorath in his capacity as TAS’s then supervisory board chair and Jap-A-Joe. The current RvC alleges that mandatory legal procedures were bypassed during the contract’s approval process, and potential unlawful financial enrichment may have occurred. The board has formally requested the Prosecutor General to launch an independent criminal investigation, while stressing that all allegations laid out in the complaint have not yet been legally substantiated through formal criminal proceedings.
Per Suriname’s Telecommunications Facilities Act, the employment terms for TAS’s director must be finalized by the responsible minister only after the Supervisory Board has been consulted and the Council of Ministers has granted formal written approval. The RvC says its review of archived TAS dossiers found no documented evidence that this multi-step mandatory approval process was followed for the 2021 contract. The board is also pushing to audit all unapproved financial obligations TAS may have incurred as a direct result of the improperly executed agreement. Monorath has previously publicly defended his authority to sign the 2021 contract, and the submitted criminal complaint exclusively addresses his actions during his tenure at TAS, not any conduct he has carried out in his current role as Justice and Police Minister.
The controversy first came to widespread public attention during litigation over Jap-A-Joe’s tenure as TAS director. The Suriname High Court of Justice upheld a lower court’s summary ruling that reaffirmed the RvC’s legitimate authority to oversee TAS’s daily operations on a provisional basis, though a full, plenary court case is still pending to make a final ruling on the 2021 employment contract’s legal validity. Simons noted that she initially anticipated the upcoming full court case would provide full clarity on the dispute, but the submission of the criminal complaint has created an entirely new procedural landscape that demands separate, targeted action from the executive branch.
Simons explained that she has already collected all available supporting documentation on the complaint’s foundational grounds, and will schedule the in-person discussion with Monorath immediately after the minister returns to the country. While she has committed to respecting the independence of the Public Prosecution Service and waiting for its criminal probe to unfold, the president underscored that the government must conduct its own parallel administrative assessment of potential repercussions regardless of the judicial process’s outcomes. She has not yet specified what potential administrative measures may be taken against Monorath, stating that all follow-up actions will be determined only after her scheduled discussion with the minister and a full review of all new developments. Members of the public can access the full submitted criminal complaint and related investigation request documents via an official public download link published by local news outlet Starnieuws.
President neemt positie Monorath onder de loep na strafklacht TAS
