Latest update March 20th, 2025 5:10 AM
Latest News
- Guyana’s oil growth boosting regional economies– CDB Director of Economics
- Suspected outbreak of Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease in Region Four
- Israel launches first ground offensive since Gaza ceasefire collapse
- Sod turned for $665M expansion of St. Stanislaus College
- Pensioner jailed for raping child
Are the Ex-Ministers indispensable or is this an attempt to circumvent the dual citizenship clause?
DEAR EDITOR,
I was stunned to see an article in KN on May 15 – “Dual citizen ex-Ministers rehired in same ministries.” It is difficult to comprehend the logic use by the president to rehire, not one, but all four of the dual citizens ministers in their respective ministries, from which they had previously resigned. This act of the president does nothing more than make a mockery of our constitution. This is taking political patronage to an unprecedented level at the expense of the state- invoking the disdain of the populace. Creating four new positions for four persons who had refuse to give service to the Nation without allegiance to a foreign state will not be condoned by the voting public – with impending elections lurking on the horizon. It is a deed mired in controversy and will not help to inspire faith or support for the Coalition. Why does the President continue to self-destruct?
During the Second World War, the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, uttered a phrase – “No man is indispensable”. Since then, that phrase became a yardstick in the hierarchy of leaders around the World. Granger’s rehiring of the four ex-ministers who had resigned because their dual citizenship was found to be contrary to our constitution, has given the aura of indispensability to his revered quartet. It exposes the less than mediocre qualities of the president relative to the Winston Churchill standard – “No man is indispensable!” The fact that these ex-ministers had an option to remain ministers by simply relinquishing their foreign citizenship as a show of patriotism, required by our constitution, and did not do so, makes Granger look more lacking in relevance as a president, for rehiring them.
Instead of renouncing their foreign citizenship to show that they have Guyana at heart, these ex- ministers choose to leave an escape route (dual citizenship) from Guyana wide open. It is clearly an indication of their love and respect for their feathered beds in foreign lands. These ex- ministers’ choice of resignation over renouncing has brought into public focus their unpatriotic sentiment. In short, they have chosen their foreign allegiance over service to homeland. In this regard, the President’s act of rehiring these people on the pretext that they are indispensable or anything else seems profane. It questions his loyalty to uphold and protect the constitution and puts him on par with the quartet. Is the rehiring of these ex- ministers in their respective ministries an attempt to circumvent the constitutional clause on dual citizenship? Whatever the motive, it is an insult to the intelligence of the Guyanese public and a seemingly intended relegation of power of the newly elected ministers. How do the newly elected ex-ministers function in the face of whom they had replace when all that separate the ex- ministers from reclaiming their place is their dual citizenship? This is definitely conflict of interest.
This rehiring act of the President has tarnished the image of the President in an irretrievable way.
Rudolph Singh
Similar Articles
THE BLUNT OF THE DAY
Sports
Features/Columnists
No immigrant should feel safe in America today
Peeping Tom… Kaieteur News- There was a time when an illegal immigrant in America could live in the shadows with some... more
If Guyana’s President Ali is the “Zelensky of the Caribbean”, who is the Putin?
Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to the US and the OAS, Ronald Sanders By Sir Ronald Sanders Kaieteur News- In the latest... more
Weekend Cartoon
