Pure electoral gimmicky

Oct 03, 2019 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,

Three occurrences impacting the Guyana Police Force were recently announced.
All three occurrences were undoubtedly, politically motivated; as such, they are unlikely to bring about any improvement in the public’s confidence or image of the police force nor its effectiveness in fighting crime.
First was the case of the embattled Assistant Commissioner who allegedly, got himself entangled with criminal elements in Region Six resulting in him being sent on administrative leave and eventually being put on trial internally but only after the matter hit the press.
Calculating the furore the press reports had generated would die down in light of impending elections and, hoping that the story would eventually disappear from the front pages of mainstream media, the GPF decided to lie low on the matter.
However, with time running out in respect to the entitlements of the embattled officer and with a ‘nosey’ press ‘breathing down their necks’, the GPF finally cracked, making it known that the Assistant Commissioner was found not guilty and freed of all charges.
But the verdict only made matters worse.
Secrecy and lack of transparency being trademarks of the current police/civilian administration, the public was left in the dark about who had actually tried the embattled police officer, which witnesses had been called and what were the charges put to the embattled policeman.
Worse yet, the verdict simply reinforced the long held perception about unswerving loyalty of officers to one another.
After all, perception is nothing else than what reality is to the perceiver.
And as though that was not enough, unbridled favouritism emanating from those who strut the corridors of power, tilted the scales in favour of the embattled Assistant Commissioner allowing one of their own, in police uniform, to prolong the travesty that was committed over a year ago allowing him to continue in service for an additional year because the political directorate had instructed that certain discrepancies appearing on his birth certificate be ignored.
That aside, the embattled Assistant Commissioner is one of the several Assistant Commissioners in Police Divisions A and B who are due to retire in 2020 to make way for others.
In his particular case, the embattled police officer’s extended controversial tenure will end in February next year.
Incidentally, his extended tenure had ‘browned off’ other senior ranks, one of whom was hoping, quite justifiably so, to fill the position that should have become vacant had it not be filled by the officer whose tenure was mired in controversy.
The second occurrence relative to the GPF has to do with the recently announced promotions to the rank of Assistant Commissioners (2) Senior Superintendent (1) and Assistant Superintendent (1).
That these promotions were surreptitiously done, and later announced as a move, ‘to make way for the approaching retirement’ of other senior ranks.’
Suffice it to say, these promotions are a matter of strategic interest to which the public should pay a keen interest in light of coming elections.
The four promotions were orchestrated to make them appear as if they were a normal course of things in the GPF when in fact, they were a camouflage for the promotion of a particular Superintendent by way of supersession, to the rank of Assistant Commissioner.
The Superintendent had proceeded on an unauthorised Chevening scholarship in the UK and whilst there, had requested successive rounds of no pay leave on medical grounds while pursuing the said scholarship.
The Superintendent who had been hankering out on the periphery for almost twelve years, suddenly found himself catapulted to the rank of Assistant Commissioner superseding
a number of deserving Senior Superintendents who were labouring professionally and dutifully, hoping that day would come when they would find themselves in the hard earned position of an Assistant Commissioner of the GPF.
But alas that was not to be, coming events had already begun to cast a long shadow.
Clearly, beyond the shadow of a doubt, there must have been political direction to situate the supersession of the Superintendent in a way to make it appear non-controversial.
Supersession is too important an aspect of organisational existence to be dismissed lightly especially when it is politically inspired.
It is indeed strange that this particular officer after an absence of twelve years of active service from the force, was deemed fit for promotion based on supersession ahead of other well deserving colleagues.
Further, his rapid promotion should be considered a grave injustice to the superseded ranks who, after all, are individuals with aspirations and members of the same organisation.
Whether the Force and the architect of these politically inspired supersessions/promotions are capable of managing from a human resource perspective, the widespread ramifications of their actions is a matter that is left to be seen.
The caretaker grouping wanted to reward the Superintendent for his supportive political convictions but they did not want to make it appear as if it was exclusive to him, so what they did was to promote him along with three others to senior positions. In effect, it coated a bitter pill with some sweetener for others to swallow.
The third occurrence has to do with the regime’s trumpeting of the so-called ‘10 for 10’ or Ten Commanders for the ten regions.
The fact of the matter is that of the ten regions, six and three regions combined, called station districts or police divisions always had dedicated commanders at the level of a Senior Superintendent with the exception of Divisions A, B and C where Assistant Commissioners are to serve in accordance with the Standing Orders of the GPF.
Interestingly, a former Crime Chief who is currently serving at Region One as a sub-divisional officer and not even as the Second-in-Charge or 2IC will now be made a Commander but with the same substantive rank.
Contrary to the bleating of the caretaker grouping, this ten for ten project is actually aimed at giving Guyanese ‘a six for a nine’ since it has nothing to do with enhanced security for the regions.
This is pure electoral gimmicky.
The necessity to implement a commitment made almost four years ago at this time must have come from the National Security Council which the caretaker president chairs.
Thus, we heard Mr. Ramjattan in typical tongue in cheek fashion describing the process as the “regionalisation of the Police Force.”
According to Mr. Ramjattan, at some point in time, there will be a “kind of an official launch” of the exercise.
One anomaly that stands out in exercise is there is no uniformity in the rankings of those who have been identified to serve as commanders of the ten regions.
In this respect, Assistant Commissioners, Senior Superintendents and Superintendents
have been identified to head these regions which begs the question whether there was any political considerations in respect to the selection of the ranks.
From his language, Mr. Ramjattan makes it clear for all to conclude that in this ‘regionalisation of the GPF’ there is more in the mortar than on the pestle.
The outgoing Minister leaves no doubt in any one’s mind that the deployment exercise is being rolled out to heighten the local security arrangements for the caretaker president during the elections season.
In this regard, personal security for the caretaker president has been elevated to one of national security. And to make this implementable, a dedicated commander is being placed in each region to ensure the command and span of control of the security apparatus in each region is at the disposal of the president and in preparations for “any trouble” the Opposition might be contemplating before and after March 2, 2020.
Operation ‘Containment’ seems to be the appropriate title for the regime’s considered response to deal with any “civil strife” in the regions knowing according to Mr. Ramjattan that they (APNU+AFC), “Have what it takes to ensure that we have stability and security in the country,” because of the declared policy of the PPP/C to organise protests wherever the caretaker president might be and, primarily, because of the ‘Pegasus incident’ for which ‘’someone has to pay,’’ the caretaker administration has decided to ratchet up security arrangements at the Green House, the Ministry of the Presidency and at all locations and venues where the caretaker president is billed to make an appearance during his elections campaign.
No one should be fooled about the real intent behind the so-called ‘regionalisation of the GPF’ by having a Commander at each region. It has nothing to do with bringing greater safety and security to the people in their respective regions rather, it is more to do with enhancing the personal security for the caretaker president in response to the PPP/C’s declared policy to organise protests wherever and whenever the caretaker president wishes.
These three occurrences taken together, demonstrate in no uncertain terms, the continuing efforts of the outgoing caretaker administration to misuse the Guyana Police Force to deprive the Guyanese people of their civil and political rights.