Dear Editor,
Just my short contribution to the hullabaloo about the promotion of Commodore Best to Chief of Staff of the GDF. We Guyanese suffer from selective amnesia. When Chief Fire Officer Spellen was dismissed by Prime Minister Burnham in 1972, the most senior officer, Divisional Officer Harold Norton was superceded by Station Officer William McDowell, a junior officer with less service and limited fire-ground experience, who was promoted to Chief Fire Officer. No one questioned the Prime Minister’s authority or motivation for so doing.
Again, though age affects one’s ability to recall past events, I can still remember that Norman McLean who held the positions of senior officer in the Police Force and Head of the National Service and who was not a professional soldier was promoted to Chief of Staff. If I am wrong, and old folks do make mistakes, then those officers who served under him can correct me.
Once more there was no overtly expressed dissatisfaction with that appointment.
Why all the fuss now?
Mr. Editor, for my own enlightenment I would like to know if execution of the presidential powers enshrined in the constitution is dependent on who is the president. Perhaps those brilliant and prolific letter writers to your newspaper can clear up my confusion.
To those disgruntled senior Defence Force officers I can only say that seniority should not be the only criterion for promotion to the highest echelons of your profession.
If that were so General Dwight Eisenhower would not have been made Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Europe before the invasion of Europe during the Second World War.
Subsequent events justified the wisdom of that decision.
Yours faithfully,
Carl Rogers
