Winston Patterson is new Ombudsman

May 18, 2017 News

---

By Kiana Wilburg

Retired Justice Winston Patterson was sworn in yesterday as the nation’s new Ombudsman.
The ceremony was held at State House. There, the Ombudsman was accompanied by

his wife Carol and son Dr. Preston Patterson.
The former judge told the media that he feels privileged to be called on to serve his country in this capacity.
He said, “I feel humbled and privileged to be called once again to serve and certainly I will endeavour to do my best. With God’s help and the cooperation of the administrative staff, I have no doubt that I will be equal to the task.”
Prior to the event, President David Granger discussed the Ombudsman’s appointment with Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo as mandated by the Constitution of Guyana.
In his relatively short remarks, the Head of State noted that the Constitution prescribed from the start, at time of Independence in 1966, the establishment of an Ombudsman.
Granger said that Guyana became the first country in the western hemisphere and the second Commonwealth state to enshrine the position of Ombudsman in its Constitution.
He said that the decision to establish an Ombudsman in Guyana had its genesis in the Report of the British Guiana Commission of Inquiry Constituted by the International Commission of Jurists October 1965, “Racial Problems in the Public Service.”
The aficionado of history articulated that the late Forbes Burnham – the Premier of British Guiana at that time – had invited the International Commission of Jurists to send a team to undertake an appraisal of racial imbalances in the country’s public services in 1965 in the aftermath of the bloody ‘disturbances’ of 1964.
The Report of the Commission of Inquiry noted, inter alia, that, “… since there will be cases of alleged discrimination where it will not be practicable to invoke the Constitution in the courts as a means of redress, it would be desirable to have a simple, swift and inexpensive procedure for investigating such cases.”

The Report noted, further, that the government of the day, recognizing the need to investigate maladministration (including racial discrimination), supported the idea of an Ombudsman vested with constitutional authority.
The President then reminded that the Constitution vests the Ombudsman with the authority to investigate claims of injustice suffered as a result of maladministration in government.
In fact, the Constitution (at Article 192 (1)) states that the Ombudsman “may investigate any action taken by any department of Government or by any action taken by any department of Government or by any other authority to which this article applies, or by the President, Ministers, officers or members of such a department or authority, being action taken in exercise of the administrative functions of that department or authority.”
On this premise, the President said that the Ombudsman provides an important service to the public; serving as the watchdog, guarding against abuse or the violation of citizens’ rights by public officials and their departments and authorities. He said that the services of the Ombudsman are free and timely and in short, the Ombudsman is the public advocate.
The Head of State also took the opportunity to express the appreciation of the Government for the services of the late Justice Winston Moore who served with respectability and credibility in the office of the Ombudsman.
He also expressed congratulations to his successor, Justice Winston Patterson, to whom he administered the oath of office.

AWAITING JUSTICE
While a new Ombudsman is in place, the Government is yet to take action on two reports which were completed by Moore who passed away September last.
Ombudsman Patterson was asked yesterday if he intends to look into these two matters. To this he told Kaieteur News, “I can’t comment at this time. I haven’t even yet seen the office.”
One of the reports done by Moore focused on the issue of Kaieteur News columnist Freddie Kissoon being wrongfully dismissed from the University of Guyana.
Following a complaint lodged with the Office of the Ombudsman, UG was notified that the newspaper columnist’s contract being terminated in the manner that it was, breached UG’s regulations. The report on the issue said that he should be compensated.
Since this pronouncement was made on January 6, 2015, no action has been by the institution to compensate Kissoon.
The late Ombudsman Moore had also ruled on another controversial matter relating to the New Building Society (NBS).
The Office of the Ombudsman concluded in November 2014 that police wrongfully charged the former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and two of his managers of a massive $69M fraud at the New Building Society, in 2006.

---

---