Latest update January 6th, 2025 4:00 AM
Those Ambassadorial appointments…David Dabydeen was not retained because he was a political appointee
…breached reporting protocol; only spoke with former Presidents on all “special China-related matters”
By Kiana Wilburg
In the process of evaluating and strengthening the systems of his office, Foreign Affairs Minister, Carl Greenidge, discovered that the PPP misused the systems and protocols governing Ambassadorial appointments.
Guyana’s former Ambassador to China, David Dabydeen
Greenidge said, however, that this is an area that he is intent on bringing some structure to. He said that one of the first things he did was to replace most of the Ambassadors appointed during the PPP’s era as it was found that they were only given the position because of political favours and connections. He cited the appointment of David Dabydeen as a prime example of this.
The Foreign Affairs Minister said, “When it comes to Dabydeen who was our Ambassador to China, he was not retained by us because he was a political appointee. Additionally, he chose not to resign. When we took over, we told almost all of them that their contract was at an end and you are supposed to resign. In some instances, we gave them time to pack up and go …But Dabydeen did not listen. He refused to bow to protocol.”
Greenidge said that one of the Ambassadors who was retained from the PPP’s time was Bayney Karran. Karran is Guyana’s Ambassador to Washington.
“In Bayney’s case, he was retained because it was felt that he had been genuinely effective in his services. After he resigned, he expressed an interest in getting back his job as well. And on that basis we retained him. However in Dabydeen’s case, I can’t say much for his body of work,” the Foreign Affairs Minister said.
Greenidge added, “And I really don’t know what he did over there to be honest. I suppose I was not interested in finding out the details because he was a political appointee and I made a public commitment not to renew the contracts of political appointees.”
Greenidge said that Ambassadors are supposed to submit monthly reports. However, he is unable to say if Dabydeen observed this monthly practice while he worked during the PPP time. His understanding is that Dabydeen communicated directly with the former Presidents for all high level matters on China. Greenidge said that this is also a breach of reporting protocol especially when one takes into consideration that there are no files on certain matters.
Foreign Affairs Minister, Carl Greenidge
Greenidge said, too, that there is usually a review of the work of the Ambassadors which is normally done by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He said that this was rarely observed during the time of the past regime.
The Foreign Affairs Minister said that most of the Ambassadors who were appointed under the PPP regime were essentially political appointees who basically reported to the office of the presidency and failed to observe in numerous instances, the relevant reporting protocols.
“Some of the former Ambassadors felt they had to report directly to the former Presidents. That created a problem for us here because when you ask for certain information, the Ministry is unable to say how A or B has been arrived at. So reporting protocols were breached and it is something we are looking to change,” the Minister concluded.
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