Work of Security Oversight Committee being stagnated – Rohee - has not met since establishment

Work of Security Oversight Committee being stagnated – Rohee – has not met since establishment

Jul 27, 2016 News

The Parliamentary Oversight Committee on the Security Sector is responsible for examining the policies and the administration of the entities operating under the Ministry of Public Security. This means parliamentary oversight for the disciplined services.
According to the opposition point man on security, Clement Rohee, it has not been convened since the opening of the 11th parliament in June 2015. He described the committee as “just languishing” at present.
“The parliamentary oversight security committee has not been made to function under this government,” he said. “And it is just languishing. We have been calling over and over again for them to set it up.”
The former Minister of Home Affairs noted that issues like the use of police prosecutors on high profile cases can be discussed in the public domain, on the forum afforded by the oversight committee.
Rohee, who has been a member of the committee in both the 10th and 11th parliaments, described this as the way to go in the interest of transparency and accountability.
Among recent developments in the justice sector was the post cabinet announcement that a team of special prosecutors would be set up in order to prosecute high profile cases.
Kaieteur News was unable to make contact with Government Chief Whip Amna Ally or Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan, the chair of the committee, to ascertain why the committee has not been meeting.
In the 10th parliament, the committee had comprised of Rohee, former Minister of Housing Irfaan Ali, former Culture, Youth and Sport Minister Dr. Frank Anthony and former Public Works Minister Robeson Benn.
Also sitting on the committee were current Minister of Legal Affairs Basil Williams, Minister of Citizenship Winston Felix and former Members of Parliament Desmond Trotman, Christopher Jones and Dr. Veersammy Ramayya.
Presently, Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan chairs the Security Committee. Also sitting on the committee for the coalition are Minister of Agriculture Noel Holder, Junior Minister of Indigenous People’s Affairs Valarie Garrido Lowe, Williams and Hemraj Ramkumar.
Sitting in for the PPP are Rohee, former Health Minister Dr. Bheri Ramsaran and current parliamentarians Harry Gill and Joseph Hamilton.
The committee came about in 2009 when former Attorney-General Doodnauth Singh tabled the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2009 in the National Assembly. The Bill had provided for the committee’s establishment. It was his final bill before leaving office.
The move stemmed from a national stakeholders forum held in 2008 following the Lusignan and Bartica massacres. Recommendations for the committee’s establishment had also been made throughout the years by bodies including the Disciplined Services Commission.
The workings of the committee are tied with the British-backed Security Sector Reform Action Plan (SSRAP). When the original plan was developed in 2006 for implementation in 2009; it had included a three-year capacity building plan for a National Security Committee in the National Assembly between 2007 and 2009. This was to ensure some degree of parliamentary oversight.

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