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Gladwyn Samuels no longer Guyana’s Prison Director
Removed from his post as Prison Director, Gladwyn Samuels.
Kaieteur News – After serving as Guyana’s Prison Director for more than three years, Gladwyn Samuels has been reassigned. This information was relayed to media operatives, yesterday, in a release sent out by Samuels himself.
Samuels was sent on 132 days accumulated vacation leave on December 15, 2020; it was hinted to Kaieteur News, since then, that he would not be returning as Director of the Guyana Prison Service (GPS).
In the release, which he sent out yesterday, it was noted that his leave will come to an end on today, April 25, 2021. Samuels, related in the release; in anticipation of resuming duties, he wrote the Ministry of Home Affairs on April 23, 2021 notifying Minister Robeson Benn that his leave is coming to an end. In response, Samuels was notified by the Ministry that he will be reassigned to the post of Assistant Coordinator on People Smuggling with effect from April 26, 2021.
His reassignment, detailed the release will be on a full-time basis until further notice. Samuels expressed his gratitude to members of GPS, members of the Joint Services and the media for supporting and cooperating with him during his tenure as Prison Director.
Samuel was substantively appointed as Deputy Prison Director in 2017 and acted as Prison Director after his predecessor Carl Graham had retired that same year. He received substantive appointment Prison Director in January of 2020. During his tenure as Director, Samuels was on a stormy watch. In 2017, riot broke at the Camp Street Prison where two inmates were wounded and a police officer shot dead. The prison, which housed at least 1,000 inmates, went up in flames. This setback caused major overcrowding at other prison facilities, especially at Lusignan where a significant number of the prisoners were transferred.
Millions were allocated to rehabilitate, upgrade and rebuild the prison facilities. Works started but then they were stalled. Politicians blamed the no-confidence motion and later the five-month elections saga. The COVID-19 pandemic also fell in the mix as one of the reasons why the prison troubles could not be fixed. The prison escapes became frequent as did the unrests. In 2020 alone, there were two major unrests at the Lusignan Prisons. In July, prisoners protested because contraband was seized and parts of the prison were set afire. One month later, the country was under a new administration, and unrest broke out again after 120 inmates tested positive for COVID-19. Two inmates were killed in the process and several others injured. Additionally, over the past several years, a number of prison officers have been fired and charged for smuggling contraband to inmates.
Home Affairs Minister, Robeson Benn, during a recent Press Conference sought to shift the blame on poor administration. However, Samuels had continued to single out what he called the root causes of the problem: the lack of proper facilities, little resources, fewer staffers, and little or no technology.
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