Dear Editor,

Surrounded by some of his fraternal adjutants Paul Slowe felt secure in declaring “…there is not a single person in or out of Guyana who with justification can say Slowe asked for or was given a bribe or was involved in any corrupt or illegal activity.” The public may not be aware of all the deeds, or rather misdeeds, of this beneficiary of the state’s largesse, who is scheduled to join his wife in Region 11 shortly, his flaunted patriotism and professionalism notwithstanding. I must concede that he was no milquetoast officer, but four incidents spring to mind which readily undermine his bravado expressed above.

As Commander in Berbice in or about 1999 he engaged the services of an attorney-at-law to undertake state assignments when this was the sole constitutional remit of the Attorney General and Minis-ter of Legal Affairs. Was this legal activity? He also telephoned me on my direct line in clear violation of the protocol of the chain of command, a prerequisite in the studied observance of professionalism. He also subsequently sought to prevent a Cabinet minister from parking outside the ECC ground on the pretext that the space was reserved for a diplomat, and threatened to have his state vehicle towed away!

Clearly an unlawful order. I have been at pains to remind police officers that their uniforms are symbols of discipline, not power. Plato warned his fellow countrymen: “Access to power must be confined to men who are not in love with it.”

In relation to his avowed reliance on his rights with respect to the snafu with then Minister Gajraj, who is quite able to defend himself, I would recommend that this retiree analyse the Police Act CAP 16:01 holistically and not selectively, and, in particular, S.7 which symbiotically invests any home affairs minister with the plenitude of power he may have sought to invoke. In colonial times the governor was equally so authorized but none dared challenge him. His refusal to accept re-assignment ranks as an illegal act, assuming but not conceding that he could lawfully refuse the direction of the Minister. I might add that his outpourings on the dismissal of Supt McBean are equally unlawful as being in violation of the sub judice rule.

With convenient amnesia this officer does not publicise the number of promotions he received since 1992 and the supersession of Insp Chandra Lall, the father of a vocal and highly visible security operative, in the late ’70s and early ’80s, whose promotion to Asst. Supt was made more than 12 years after being eligible, while the former enjoyed accelerated indulgences.

In riding into the sunset in Region 11 Mr Slowe will have time to reflect on his career which, like a novel, what is fictitious is not so much the story but the mindset that translated his mental contrivances into the actions he took. Maybe, his confession as being “own-way and wayward” in his youth best describes his disposition.

Retirement is but one facet of the employment process. Some exercise their option earlier than others.

Yours faithfully,
Charles R. Ramson
Attorney General and
Minister of Legal Affairs

Editor’s note

We sent a copy of this letter to Asst Commissioner Paul Slowe for any comment he might have wished to make, but he declined to comment.