Newly appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Communications Network (NCN) Lennox Cornette has sought to defend his name against rising media reports against him, that he was appointed although he had forged his superior’s signature, while an employee of the then Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company Ltd (GT&T).
Cornette was appointed last week as the new CEO of the State-owned entity, replacing Molly Hassan, who held the post for two years. Since his appointment, online news outfits have reported that Cornette, while serving as Public Relations Officer of the telephone giant, had forged the signature of the company’s then Deputy General Manager Terry Holder; an offence for which he was immediately fired.
But on Tuesday, Cornette in a media release, sought to clear his name, defending that the “signature issue” occurring at GT&T had nothing to do with any financial improprieties.
According to him, it was an in-house matter which was dealt with internally by GT&T. This, he said, could be attested to by the company.
“Since my departure from GT&T at the end of 1999, the company and I have maintained cordial relations. In May 2011, the company asked me to chair the 16th Tele Gathering Meeting that it was hosting in Guyana over the Easter weekend. Tele Gathering is an annual event of telecos in the Caribbean. Stabroek News’ report on that meeting mentioned my name as chairing the proceedings,” Cornette said.
He said since the announcement by the NCN Board that he had emerged the best candidate among those interviewed for the post, numerous attacks have been fired on his person from online news sources. Apart from his issue with GT&T, Cornette said the attacks also questioned his ability to manage the broadcasting company. This he sought to also defend.
“In relation to my ability to manage the national broadcaster, I have more than 20 years’ experience in management and executive management positions, I have successfully fulfilled several consultancies for national and international organisations, and I have done my Masters research on Strategic Marketing with focus on corporate identity,” the new CEO stated.
He said from the leaked emails from the NCN Board discussion to what is being said in media reports, it seems obvious that someone was pre-selected outside of the Board for the CEO’s position.
“However, it is now public knowledge that my submissions to the Board (all applicants were required to submit with their applications an outline of what they perceive as the mandate of NCN and how they will enhance that mandate), as well as my performance at the interview, came closest to what the Board required.”
“It is my interest and deep desire to serve my country and to turn the fortunes of NCN around. NCN is a veritable well that has been blocked up by inefficient operations, lack of strategic vision and direction, inconsistencies between corporate strategies and departmental goals, inappropriate allocation of resources, lack of attendance to best practices, and staff who are not adequately motivated to pursue targets and goals,” he reasoned.
He said as CEO of NCN, he intends to revolutionise the entity by ensuring that a good strategic plan is developed. This plan, he said, is aimed at operational efficiency through effective coordination of the technical, administrative, programming, and marketing components of the organisation.
