Police to go ahead with promotions despite Rohee’s concerns

Dec 29, 2015 News

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The Guyana Police Force is reportedly moving with its annual promotions, despite concerns by former Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee about the absence of integrity testing and that some of the beneficiaries might still have pending disciplinary matters.
Rohee at a press conference yesterday expressed reservations that the impending announcement of the police promotions lists is going ahead without much consideration for a policy directive by former President Donald Ramotar, which was given a month before he was ousted from office by the coalition A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance For Change.
Rohee, in addressing three areas of concern related to the professionalism and reforms of the Guyana Police Force, reminded that former President Ramotar in addressing the Opening Session of the Annual Officers’ Conference of the Guyana Police Force last year had announced that persons tipped for promotion will require integrity testing.
He said that Ramotar had emphasized that the move was aimed at weeding out corrupt persons from the law enforcement agency.
“In future, for appointment to some senior positions there must be some form of integrity testing,” Ramotar had said.
According to Rohee, since then, there has been no indication whether the Granger-led administration has taken up the mantle and proceeded in that direction.

He said that moreover, little or nothing is known about a number of disciplinary matters that have been before the Police Service Commission for sometime now.
This is in addition to several disciplinary matters that are before a Disciplinary Authority that was set up by Rohee himself, and headed by former Senior Magistrate Cecil Sullivan.
Sullivan’s contract was terminated earlier this year by the new government, and as a result the work of the Authority ended prematurely, thus placing in limbo those disciplinary matters that should be addressed urgently in the interest of the Force.
Rohee referred specifically to Assistant Commissioner of Police David Ramnarine, with whom he had a public spat after Ramnarine spoke out about his interference in the operations of the Guyana Police Force.
Kaieteur News understands that Ramnarine, who has been an Assistant Commissioner (AC) of Police for the past six years, is earmarked to replace Seelall Persaud as the Commissioner of Police and has reportedly been recommended for the post of Deputy Commissioner.
Rohee is of the view that Ramnarine is one whose upward mobility should be delayed pending the outcome of the disciplinary action that he himself had recommended.
“It is to be recalled that a disciplinary matter concerning Assistant Commissioner of Police David Ramnarine is among several disciplinary matters slated for consideration at the level of the Disciplinary Authority. Concerns have been expressed about persons whose disciplinary matters are yet to be heard and who have not been subjected to integrity tests, being promoted in 2016,” Rohee said.
But according to information received by this newspaper, no disciplinary action was instituted against Ramnarine.
“The records will show that former Commissioner Brumell had written to Ramnarine and Ramnarine responded, and that was the end of the matter. There is no record that Ranmarine was written to or summoned by any disciplinary body, either the Police Service Commission or this disciplinary body Rohee is talking about,” a senior police officer told this newspaper.
And besides, the Force has vacancies for four Deputy Commissioners of Police, who can be chosen from among the several Assistant Commissioners.
The two most senior Assistant Commissioners of Police are Balram Persaud and Ramnarine.
Persaud has been an Assistant Commissioner for the past eight years, four of which have been served in the Deputy Commissioner (Admin) portfolio, without the benefits of that senior position.
Ramnarine has been an AC for six years and has been serving in the Deputy Commissioner (Operations) position without the benefits.
The force is expected to announce its promotions in three days’ time.
Rohee at his press conference yesterday also touched on remarks made by President Granger at the annual breakfast at the Force Headquarters on Tuesday December 16, where he is reported to have told his audience; “The Minister of Public Security is obliged to report to Cabinet every single Tuesday morning on the state of the Police Force and on their success in overcoming the crime problem. We haven’t told the police you are paid to do a job go ahead and do it. We sit down and plan and strategize to make sure that Guyana can become a safe country for all our citizens.”
The former Home Affairs Minister said that this statement is in stark contrast to the public position of APNU+AFC made when they were in the opposition and had hurled accusations at the PPP government to the effect that there was political interference in the planning, strategizing and operations of the Guyana Police Force, though there was no evidence to this effect.
“Under the PPP/C such intrusions were resisted by the hierarchy of the Force and this was manifested in several formal communications to the Ministry of Home Affairs, and at the level of monthly Ministry of Home Affairs/Guyana Police Force review meetings to assess implementation of the Strategic Plan of the Guyana Police Force,” Rohee said.
He noted that from all indications, the public order mandate of the Ministry of Public Security has been usurped by the National Security Council at the Ministry of the Presidency, where all the “security experts” are ensconced, rather than at Force Headquarters, and the Ministry of Public Security.
“This disclosure means that Ramjattan’s wings have been further clipped. His portfolio of responsibility to ‘give general orders and direction to the Commissioner of Police’ on public order and security matters has been diluted further by the National Security Council chaired by Granger.”
Rohee said that this must be an unwelcome development for the hierarchy of the Force, especially by those who were once vehemently opposed to political “intrusion” and “interference” by the PPP/C administration in the operations of the Guyana Police Force.
He said that for years, the Force has resisted relocation of ‘F’ Division Headquarters to Bartica.
Rohee said that it was under the PPP/C that ‘E’ and ‘F’ Divisions were split from one to two separate divisions, with Linden being the headquarters for ‘E’ Division, while the proposal was to have ‘F’ Division Headquarters relocated from Force Headquarters to Bartica.
He said that the Police hierarchy is aware of its own excuses made time and again to make this recommendation a reality. He added that they have now bowed to the directives of the National Security Council headed by President David Granger, that ‘F’ Division Headquarters be established at Bartica rather than at Force Headquarters.
“The haste by which this new headquarters has been established is manifested in the absence of telephone/landlines and other communication facilities at the building, housing the new Divisional Headquarters,” Rohee stated.

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