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Prepare for shakeup in Police Force – President Granger
President David Granger
There are more indications that the administration is dead set on overhauling the Guyana Police Force (GPF).
One day after Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, disclosed that significant reforms are imminent, especially heralded by a recent report of a Commission of Inquiry which found serious lapses in the police force, President David Granger yesterday commented on the issue.
He is quoted as saying that Commission of Inquiry (COI) into the alleged assassination plot against him has exposed serious deficiencies and weaknesses in the force, and these will be corrected.
While making it clear that the COI was not meant to be a witch-hunt, the Head of State said that work has to be done to ensure that the law enforcement agency is more professional and efficient in the execution of its duties and responsibilities, a Ministry of the President release indicated.
Speaking to media operatives on the sidelines of the Launch of the Demerara-Mahaica (Region Four) Regional Agricultural and Commercial Exhibition (RACE) at the Ramada Princess Hotel, the President said that while Cabinet has not deliberated on the contents of the report as yet, its findings point to some critical areas, which will need to be addressed as part of security sector reform.
“[The Commission] made some very strong recommendations. Even persons who have been following the day-to-day reports would have realised that there has been a significant lapse in professionalism at the high levels of the Guyana Police Force, so these are matters of concern.
It has brought to light some serious deficiencies and I am very confident that the work that Mr. Russell Combe is doing will point to ways in which we can correct the deficiencies.
The important thing is to ensure that we get information so that we can correct faults. It is not a witch-hunt. We are trying to make the law enforcement agencies more efficient,” he said.
Combe is a British security expert, who is an Advisor to President Granger as part of the United Kingdom’s US$4.7B Security Sector Reform (SSR) Programme, which had been scrapped by the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) Administration in 2009.
He is expected to produce an initial interim report shortly.
President Granger, in November 2016, on the Ministry of the Presidency’s television programme, “The Public Interest”, had said that while the GPF had not received the attention it deserved in the past, his administration would work to make it a sound, professional organisation.
Granger, a former army chief, has led the Coalition to victory in the 2015 general elections, promising widespread change, has been zeroing in on the public service and the army as well. He had noted during the programme that the Government will act as is deemed necessary.
“We reckon that the decision that we took to bring the British Security Sector Reform Programme here is the right one, because we cannot proceed in this country with an un-reformed Guyana Police Force, and some of the actions which are taking place convince me that reform has to take place, and we are going to do that,” he said.
In April this year, an allegation was made that there was a plot to assassinate the President.
Questions were later raised about the investigative approach employed by the Guyana Police Force (GPF) and on June 30, 2017, Minister of State, Mr. Joseph Harmon announced that in keeping with Section Two of the Commission of Inquiry Act, the President had ordered an Inquiry into the allegation, to be headed by retired Assistant Police Commissioner, Paul Slowe.
Several senior cops including Commissioner Seelall Persaud, Assistant Commissioners David Ramnarine and Clifton Hicken, and Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum, were among those who were called to testify about the roles they played.
It was found that during the investigations, orders allegedly came down for a businessman, Nazim Khan, from Diamond, to be released.
A taxi service owner, Andriff Gillard, claimed he was offered $7M by the businessman, a neighbour, after he went to borrow $6M. The $7M was to assassinate the president. Gillard alleged that he was showed a long gun in the process.
Gillard claimed police ranks were abusive to him and dismissed his complaints.
Already, the administration has announced that it will make police divisions smaller to reflect the realities on the ground, as part of the reforms.
In recent years, a number of cops fingered in wrongdoing have found themselves being investigated and interdicted from duty.
The police force has over the years been facing accusations of corruption and even blamed for offering criminals protection.
A recent discovery of a plane in Region Nine, believed linked to the drug trade has also angered the administration, which believes that the matter is one of national security.
Several cops have since been removed from Lethem, a Region Nine area that borders with Brazil.
In late July, during the hearings of the CoI into the alleged assassination plot, President Granger asked the Police Service Commission, an independent body, to halt all promotions.
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Granger what you should have done since you took office you did not do,now you are trying to do it and I know that it will not work. Joseph Harmon is not a good fit for your administration. You are not a good president and is unable to perform the duties of a president.