Clerk of the National Assembly Clerk Sherlock Isaacs said yesterday that he is not answerable to the Speaker of the National Assembly and therefore did not have to alert him prior to removing the Parliamentary Mace.
Isaacs said that he is the custodian of all government property and is answerable only to the Auditor General, concerning inventory.
On Friday, Speaker Raphael Trotman announced that the Mace, the symbol of the authority of the office of the Speaker, had been stolen from his office. He stated that a report was made to the Commissioner of Police.
Trotman said the object was removed, along with its entire protective case, from his office without his permission or knowledge.
However, Isaacs later said it had been taken for cleaning. He said it was also removed for a new housing box to be made and it will remain in the Clerk’s Office over the weekend and returned to the Speaker’s Office tomorrow.
Speaking to this publication yesterday, Isaacs said no harm was meant when the Mace was removed. “I don’t want a public row with this,” he said, adding that Trotman knew the Mace was to be removed in order for a new case to be made.
All efforts to contact Speaker Raphael Trotman on this issue were unsuccessful.
Isaacs said he never had to alert any Speaker when he was moving the Mace and that it was his responsibility to “service everything in parliament.”
He said the Speaker should have contacted him to enquire about the object’s whereabouts instead of making a public announcement.
“It is not his Mace. It is just a symbol of authority,” he said. “I’m getting frustrated over this nonsense,” he said
Trotman had previous stated that the Mace is only removed by the Sergeant-at-arms for use during sittings or for temporary viewing by guests on tour of the National Assembly.
Isaacs said the Mace is cleaned whenever the need arises and since Parliament was in recess he decided to take it out for cleaning over the weekend.
The Speaker and the Clerk have been at odds over who has the authority to convene a sitting of the National Assembly.
