The Mayor and City Council (M&CC) on Monday passed its fifth motion of no confidence against Town Clerk (Ag) Carol Sooba and is again calling for a suitably qualified officer from within the council to perform the said duties until the establishment of the Local Government Commission.
The motion was moved by Councillor Eon Andrews and seconded by Councillor Gregory Fraser, a statement from the M&CC said. The councillors maintain that the Mayor and City Councillors of Georgetown is the constituted legal entity responsible for the welfare of citizens in the city and its staff which is required to carry out policies and decisions of the said M&CC, a Local Government Authority. As such, under the Municipal and District Councils Act Chapter 28:01, the Mayor and Councillors are viewed by the public as the entity responsible for the proper conduct of all business related to its designated responsibility.
In the recital to the motion, the City Councillors also cited the April 10, 2014 High Court ruling that Sooba’s appointment as Town Clerk by the Minister of Local Government and Regional Development be quashed as he is not endowed with the power to do so under the Guyana Constitution. Further, they have noted that Sooba’s track record to date has proven that she “is inept and incapable of executing the duties as Chief Executive Officer of” the Georgetown City Council. They cited a number of instances where the acting town clerk has displayed incompetence, the most recent of which is her refusal to effect payment for two nurses employed at the day care centre operated by the city council. The nurses remain unpaid for over three months.
Further, the Council has charged that on more than one occasion Sooba has refused to call staff meetings to discuss Council matters, including a programme to restore Georgetown passed by way of motion in the National Assembly. She is also accused of routinely flouting the decisions and recommendations of the said Council. “Beyond that she is not qualified for the position of Town Clerk of Georgetown,” the councillors said.
The recital to the motion also said that Sooba had installed an individual of dubious character as her personal bodyguard and that this had compromised the internal security arrangement. The recital to the motion further stated that on November 22, 2014 Sooba stormed into the office of Public Relations Officer Royston King and demanded that he leave the office.
The motion said that King was traumatised since Sooba was accompanied by her bodyguard and other persons. Further, the motion stated that Sooba arbitrarily cut King’s remuneration by 50% claiming that she had the power to interdict.
Also cited in the motion was Sooba’s instruction to the City Treasurer to waive $27M in rates owed by Ganga Prasad and Sons Limited for a property at Lot 162 Charlotte and Wellington Sts which was being sold when she had no such authority.
