Government yesterday announced that the remaining three ministers who resigned from parliament because they are dual citizenship holders, have been given portfolios in the ministries they once oversaw.
They are, respectively, former Minister of Foreign Affairs Carl Greenidge, who is now Foreign Secretary; former Minister of Business Dominic Gaskin, who is now Director of Manufacturing and Marketing; and former Minister of Public Service Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine, who now has responsibility for public service and disciplined services colleges.
The decision by the government will be seen as circumventing the import of the High Court’s ruling against dual citizen which required them to resign as MPs and from their assigned portfolios. The dual citizens have all now been restored to their former ministries even if with altered responsibilities. Critics also point out that taxpayers will be saddled with paying for additional persons in the various ministries at the ministerial rate.
“Mr. Carl Greenidge has been appointed Foreign Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with responsibility for the Department of Frontiers and Territorial Integrity and the Department of Trade and Economic Cooperation,” a statement from the Ministry of the Presidency informed.
Greenidge’s appointment in the frontiers division and with responsibility for territorial integrity would be seen as important given the volatile situation in neighbouring Venezuela and the border controversy case which Guyana has lodged with the International Court of Justice. With the recent appointment of Dr Karen Cummings as Minister of Foreign Affairs, concerns have been expressed in various circles as to whether she would be able to discharge important functions in relation to border matters.
“Mr. Dominic Gaskin has been appointed Director of Manufacturing and Marketing within the Ministry of Business, with responsibility for the enforcement of standards, providing assistance to small producers and access to markets, particularly Eastern Caribbean markets. Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine has been appointed Director of Public Service Training within the Ministry of the Presidency, with responsibility for training standards at the Bertram Collins College of the Public Service, Guyana Defence Force Staff College and Guyana Police Force Staff College,” it added.
According to Article 155 (1) (a) of the Constitution, “No person shall be qualified for election as a member of the National Assembly who is, by virtue of his or her own act, under any acknowledgement of allegiance, obedience or adherence to a foreign power or state.”
In keeping with this provision, Chief Justice Roxane George-Wiltshire, in the case of Compton Reid v. Speaker of the National Assembly et al, declared, on 31st January, 2019, that it was unconstitutional for a person holding dual citizenship to be elected as a Member of Parliament. This ruling was affirmed by a majority decision of the Court of Appeal on 22nd March, 2019.
Stating that he has “a duty to ensure that the Government acts in accordance with the Constitution at all times”, President David Granger had said that the new portfolios would have been assigned in accordance with the Courts.
Then last month, after the Appeal Court ruling upholding the High Court finding, the four ministers resigned. The President announced the resignations, as he informed that he had accepted them and would appoint necessary replacements.
From the inception, President Granger had indicated that he expected Greenidge and the three other dual citizen ministers to stay on and serve government in other capacities. One of them, the former Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, is now the Director General of the Ministry of the Presidency.
Reshuffling his Cabinet and portfolios in the respective ministries, the President named three of the four replacements. Dawn Hastings-Williams was appointed Minister of State; Haimraj Rajkumar, Minister of Business; while Tabitha Sarabo-Halley took Roopnaraine’s post as Minister of the Public Service in the Ministry of the Presidency.
The changes at the ministries saw Annette Ferguson becoming Minister in the Ministry of Communities, with responsibility for Housing; Simona Broomes as the Minister in the Ministry of the Presidency with responsibility for Youth Affairs; and Valerie Adams-Yearwood being appointed Minister in the Ministry of Agriculture, with responsibility for Rural Affairs.
There was no word on Greenidge’s replacement until the beginning of this month, when in a surprise move, Granger named and subsequently appointed Dr Cummings as the new Foreign Affairs Minister.
Granger had informed that Greenidge would be retained at the Foreign Affairs Ministry, but that details of that arrangement were being worked out.
Sources had told this newspaper that Greenidge and the President were discussing the terms of his return to the ministry.
The President had also explained his choice in the former Minister in the Ministry of Public Health. “The deciding factor is that the country could not be without a foreign minister and I felt in my considered judgement, that she was the fittest person to hold that portfolio,” the President said.
At her swearing in ceremony, Cummings ack-nowledged that she has no foreign affairs experience but she looked forward to working and serving. “It’s a learning curve for me and I look forward to working and making myself available and to serve with distinction,” she said.
Cummings also said that she thought she could learn much from Greenidge and looked forward to working with him. “I still think that he can be my coach. It’s a new area and so I look forward to working with him,” she stated.
