Gail Teixeira is dead wrong; these are the facts

Nov 08, 2022 Letters

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Dear Editor,

I read with much dismay a statement from Hon. Gail Teixeira MP, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Government under the caption, “Burke one – man organisation continues to spread racist remarks.” Several persons included Rickford Burke, Paul Slowe and GHK Lall have responded adequately to her. However, Editor, please permit me to have my two bits in the confabulation.

The Hon. Minister came out smoking but there was no fire. Here is what she posited, “Paul Slowe was suspended as Chairman of the Police Service Commission because he refused to appoint senior officers recommended by the Commissioner of Police acting, ninety percent of whom were Afro Guyanese.” This statement is as usual the erratic flight of the Minister ‘s imagination. It is complete fabrication and total distortion of facts. Here are the facts relevant to the facts in issue. As a former member of the Police Service Commission, I believe that the statement under review is not only an attack on the character and integrity of Paul Slowe, but that of Michael Somersall, Vesta Adams, Claire Jarvis and I, Clinton Conway, all former members of the PSC. The former members have given me their express permission to respond to Gail Teixeira.

The Commission which was chaired by Paul Slowe was not a one-man Commission or a Paul Slowe Commission. It was the Police Service Commission. All the members were active participants in the decision-making process of the Commission. On one occasion, we even outvoted the Chairman. Let me be pellucid, Paul Slowe was not suspended because he refused to appoint senior members of the GPF recommended by the Commissioner of Police acting. Paul Slowe’s and other members of the PSC’s  suspension was purely political. He refused the request of the President to promote ‘ his boys ‘.  I will not comment on that issue further as the matter is before the Court. It was Snr. Superintendent Calvin Brutus who blocked the promotion of one hundred and thirty-two officers in a Court action against the PSC. He was joined in his action by Snr. Superintendent Bacchus, Deputy Superintendent Stanley, Assistant Superintendent Jupiter, and Inspector Prem Narine. They all had disciplinary matters pending against them at the Police Service Commission. One was the subject of a criminal probe apart from the disciplinary matter. They did not take the PSC to Court on their own volition. There were intellectual authors who are members of the ruling political party.

All of the officers mentioned above were recently promoted by the not fully constituted Police Service Commission, despite the fact that their disciplinary matters were not resolved. The current Police Service Commission is not fully constituted. According to the Constitution of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, it must consist of five members. Only four members were appointed. One of the five must be the Chairperson of the Public Service Commission. There is no Public Service Commission. After Brutus and party lost their Court case, the PSC immediately proceeded to promote one hundred and thirty-two officers. In ‘labba time’ Anil Nandlall SC, the Attorney General said that his government did not recognise the promotions and took action to prevent the promotion taking effect. The promotions were blocked. The matter is still pending.

Gail Teixeira said that 90 percent of the officers that the PSC did not promote were Afro Guyanese. Where did she get that figure from? I hate to use the term Afro or Indo Guyanese. The use of Afro- and Indo- Guyanese do not go well towards promoting a ONE GUYANA policy. However, it was used before in relation to the GPF. During the sixties while Dr. Cheddi Jagan was crying in the wilderness, he expressed his disappointment that Afro Guyanese were the dominant race in the Force. He said that there was not a brown face in the Police Force and called for efforts to correct the racial balance. There was the report on Racial Balance in the Guyana Police Force by the International Commission of Jurist (ICJ) in 1965.  As a result, numerous Indo Guyanese were recruited in the Force. We used to call the ranks ICJ Police. The recruitment trend did not continue for long. For diverse reasons, the enlistment of  Afro Guyanese continue to be the dominant factor. Dr. Jagan subsequently flip-flopped and called on his supporters not to join the Force as he saw the GPF as an oppressive arm of the State. When Dr. Jagan became President, he made a 360-degree turn. He encouraged his supporters to join the Force. Many joined but the numbers have declined significantly. Several years ago, the ratio was 8 to 1 in favour to Afro Guyanese. I do not know what the current figure is, but East Indians are in the minority in the Force. The Service Commission under which I served never looked at race when dealing with promotion.

Snr. Superintendent Calvin Brutus in an interview with one of the Public Relations Officers of the acting Commissioner said that the police looked at race and gender when dealing with promotion. After questions were asked, the uploader hurriedly pulled down the information. An analysis of the last promotion by the not fully constituted PSC revealed the following: 5 out of 8 Assistant Commissioners were Indo Guyanese; 7 out of the 11 Senior Superintendents were Indo Guyanese; 10 of the 21 Superintendents were Indo Guyanese. No female made it to the rank of Assistant Commissioner or Senior Superintendent. The males took gold, silver and bronze. To use a horse racing term, the females also ran.  Regional Command 1, 2, 3, 4 (b), 4(c) and 6 are all headed by Indo Guyanese. Are they all competent commanders? I have my doubts. There is no female Regional Commander. Rumour is circulating that efforts are in train to replace the Commander of Region 4 (a) who is a Afro Guyanese with an Indo Guyanese after the Annual Christmas Policing.

In closing, let me hasten to urge the movers and shakers of the GPF to resurrect the Report of the Disciplined Forces Commission 2004 headed by Appeal Court Judge Ian Chang, SC and take action. The report is very instructive. It contains several sections with recommendations that will enhance the performance of the GPF and cater for greater public confidence and trust in the GPF. They are: Functions and Operations; Composition and Structure; Recruitment, Training and Promotion; Ethnic Balance; Community Policing; Extra Judicial Killings; Accountability to Civilian Authority; Firearms; Complaint against Police and Coroners Act. I rest my case.

May God help the Guyana Police Force.

Yours respectfully,

Clinton Conway

Assistant Commissioner of Police (Retired)

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