Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee has terminated the contract of a Peruvian who was hired in July last year as technical adviser to former Minister of Home Affairs Gail Teixeira.
Rohee in confirming that the services of Leonardo Caparros were terminated said the ministry did not have a need for his expertise. Rohee said that the decision to terminate the foreigner’s contract was his.
Caparros, who was appointed to the position on July 24 last year, was expected to review and evaluate the security policies, laws and regulations which form the enabling framework for the Guyana Police Force and other law enforcement agencies to enable them to respond with actions that prevent, fight and reduce crime.
Stabroek News was told that the minister might also have opted to terminate Caparros’s contract because former New York Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik was appointed by President Bharrat Jagdeo as security adviser to both the President and the Minister of Home Affairs.
Meanwhile, Rohee could not say whether Kerik, whose contract took effect from February 1, has begun work. The minister said he has not had any reason to ask for any advice from Kerik. The minister also could not say whether Kerik would be based in Guyana.
According to sources at the Home Affairs Ministry, the Peruvian had worked as a special prosecutor in the Peru Justice Office as well as in the private sector where he practised corporate law with a private firm that has an international clientele.
He was expected to play a key role in the implementation of the citizens’ security programme, which included the reforms of the police force.
The citizen’s security programme is being funded by a US$22M Inter-American Development Bank loan. Caparros, before he was relieved of his duties, was based at the Ministry of Home Affairs and had begun work in the area of human rights, police reform and oversight of police operations. He had been appointed unannounced and there was no public debate about it, although there were dissenting views within the ranks of the police force and in other sections of society.
