Fallout continues over Town Clerk appointment

Dec 06, 2013 News

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Staffers of the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) continue to take offence to the “unconstitutional and unjust” appointment of the “unqualified” Ms Carol Sooba to the senior position of Town Clerk. Additionally, the Council has asserted that two other senior positions were also given to “unqualified” persons.

As such, the Guyana Local Government Officers’ Union (GLGOU) has called on the government to rescind the appointments, especially in positions where suitably qualified persons would have been identified and recommended for the relevant offices. The Council is completely against the appointment of Sooba as Town Clerk since she was “the least qualified” of the persons interviewed a few weeks ago for the post. Interviews were also held for the post of City Treasurer and City Medical Health Officer.
The GLGOU said it has given the government 72 hours to recall the appointment of Ms Sooba, meanwhile, discussions are being held on the way forward in addressing the matter.
Union president, Dale Beresford said that the union’s international affiliates including Public Service International have already been alerted, “and this matter will be going far and wide.” He added that a letter has also been sent to the Local Government Minister about the non-agreement of Sooba’s appointment.
As one on the interview panel which was put together by the Local Government Ministry, Beresford said, “We went through a transparent and professional, integrity process of appointing someone… the entire interview panel unanimously agreed, before we walked out that room, on the applicant most suitable, and our hope was that our choice would have been communicated to the Minister and acted upon.”
A candidate by the name of Paul Clarke was found to be the most suitable candidate, having a wealth of academic achievements and experience, both locally and internationally, “not only as an employee but as a policy maker in previous capacities.”The Council’s PRO, Royston King was the second choice, while another gentleman and Sooba were sidelined.
“Ms Sooba was the least qualified of the applicants and her performance at the interview was unimpressive,” Beresford related.
He claimed that Sooba, “falsified her qualifications in her last letters of application (earlier this year) from three subjects to six, and failed to walk with the originals of her qualifications, even after being told to do so. This was brought to the attention of the head of the interview panel; her inability to complete a three-year academic programme at UG after seven years is in itself a serious indictment.”
“Sooba’s appointment to the position of Town Clerk means that the Local Government Ministry has appointed the least qualified and experienced person among 40 senior officers within the employ of the M&CC; from the position of Clerk III to Town Clerk. We have Clerk I staffs with more qualifications than Sooba,” Beresford charged.

He continued that, “Sooba’s appointment to the position of Town Clerk is an insult to the principles and manual of the Public Service Ministry, all the persons who recently successfully graduated from the University of Guyana with Associate Degrees, Masters and Doctorates in respective disciplines.”
“It is an injustice to every single worker in Guyana and it makes no sense you go to school anymore.”
An explanation was demanded for the appointment of Sooba as Town Clerk.
As it relates to the Treasurer and City Medical Officer, Deputy Mayor Patricia Chase-Green said that those chosen are unfit for the job. The treasurer, it was noted, does not have the qualification for the post, while a decision was taken not to appoint the Medical Health Officer after the Council had expended millions on her to complete a course in Jamaica, and to date, that has not been done.
Minister of Local Government Ganga Persaud has noted, however, that Carol Sooba would have been chosen for the Town Clerk position, since she was the second most qualified person for the post. The Minister claimed that Mr. Paul Clarke; who was ‘chosen’ for the Town Clerk position failed to state in his application for the job that he had been terminated from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). Persaud did not expound on the dismissal, but given the “panel of expertise,” he said, the second ranking individual would have been chosen.
When told of the findings that Sooba was the least qualified of the lot, the Minister said that would not have been the case in light of her appointment. He said the “panel of expertise” would have made their decision, done their findings, “but in the final analysis, that was the decision.”
 

 

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