2024-07-21 23:14:11
The second legislative period of this mandate ended and Congressman Iván Name left his position as head of the legislative cell amid strong scandals for his possible participation in one of the largest corruption schemes of the Government of Gustavo Petro: the case of the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (Ungrd).
Although the Senate will now be headed by the conservative Efraín Cepeda, Name left the position amidst doubts. This is due to his possible participation in the assignment of more than 1,200 contracts; which were awarded to different entities, apparently “by hand”, a popular way of calling the processes that were awarded through direct contracting and without bidding.
During Name’s term as president of the upper house, he had constant clashes with President Gustavo Petro, whom he repeatedly asked to respect legislative independence, amid disputes over the processing of social reforms.
The contracts
According to Sneyder Pinilla, former deputy director of Ungrd, Name would have received 3 billion pesos through former presidential advisor Sandra Ortiz to favor government projects. However, to date those involved have not presented evidence, but suspicions have raised doubts about their participation in the massive Senate contracting between 2023 and 2024.
According to information revealed by a media outlet, the Senate carried out 1,333 contracting processes from July 20, 2023 to the present, of which 95% (1,275) were through direct contracting.
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This mechanism, although it is a quick way to meet the needs of the upper house of Congress, eliminates the public call and gives way to “finger-pointing” contracts, something that some watchdogs criticize.
Among the main contracts, there is a 25.6 billion pesos agreement with the National Protection Unit (UNP) to guarantee the security of the senators, through protection schemes and armored trucks.
There were also multimillion-dollar contracts for legal advice. These included three contracts with the leading firm of the former vice-minister of criminal policy, Camilo Rojas Castro, for 1.484 million pesos. In addition, the law firm Novoa Buendia SAS, headed by Juan Carlos Novoa, received two contracts totaling 947 million pesos.
But a significant part of the budget was also allocated to the creation of content for the Congress channel. The company Teveandina or Canal Trece, contracted for 7.6 billion pesos through direct contracting, is under scrutiny for another agreement with the Mayor’s Office of Cali.
The Attorney General’s Office is investigating whether Teveandina had the capacity to fulfill the contract and whether there were irregularities in the award, on the part of Iván Name.
Ivan Name’s administration also involved the hiring of individuals and companies close to his party, the Green Alliance. The company Libreta Personal was hired for 183 million pesos to advise on open and transparent communication for the Senate. Its partners, Camilo Cano and Juan Mesa, have been involved in controversies related to the pension reform.
Among other political figures with contracts in the Senate are Esperanza Andrade, former conservative senator and sister of Hernán Andrade. Carlos Alberto Morales Castilla from Valledupar, Angélica Marín Agudelo from Bogotá, and Gustavo Adolfo Raad from Cartagena. Also notable is Emilio Otero, former secretary of the Senate, with contracts worth 114 million pesos.
For its part, the Administrative Directorate of the Senate defends the contracts, assuring that “all contracts comply with rigorous selection processes. And they have the support of supervision through external advisors,” they commented. In addition, they maintain that they do not determine the party affiliation of the managers of the public entities with which they contract.
Taken from Infobae
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