Attorney General Anil Nandlall yesterday maintained that Joseph Harmon did not have a “subsisting, valid and enforceable” contract to entitle him to any benefits as a result of his sacking from the government’s employ.
Harmon, the former Director General of the Ministry of the Presidency and part of the leadership of the former APNU+AFC administration, was formally fired on Thursday by Nandlall as he awaited word on a request for 42 days of leave.
Harmon later told Stabroek News that he did not recognise Nandlall’s powers and that he had planned to return to work although did not state in what capacity. The new PPP/C-led government expected political appointees, like Harmon, to resign following its assumption of office almost two weeks ago at the end of an acrimonious five-month-long post-elections dispute.
In response to correspondence from Harmon, Nandlall yesterday wrote him and cited his conduct in the preceding five months. “…Guyana endured the misfortune and anguish of both your utterances and antics. From the tone and content of your letter, it is excruciatingly clear that reason has not yet resumed its natural seat,” he wrote.
He further stated that this was evident in Harmon, who is the General Secretary of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), choosing to describe the current government as “fraudulent” in his official correspondence.
“As regard your complaint of the denial of “contractual benefits”: sagacious counsel, once solicited, will hopefully persuade you that “contractual benefits” only devolve upon the breach of a subsisting, valid and enforceable contract. In your case, as I have informed previously, there is no longer such a contract. In consequence, your expectation is woefully misplaced,” he added, before advising Harmon to be guided accordingly.
On Thursday, Nandlall had informed Harmon by way of a termination letter that it was no longer possible or practical for him to perform the tasks that had been contracted for by the former government. He also told Harmon that the current president and the government lacked confidence in him.
Harmon fired back the same day, saying that not only did he not see the correspondence as a letter of termination but that he planned to challenge any action taken against him and the taking away of his benefits, under the contract.
He said that he had requested from the Ministry of the Presidency, through the Permanent Secretary and not the current government, 42 vacation days owed to him but he never got a reply.
Questioned on if he feels that he is still entitled to vacation days for this year and a job at the Ministry of the Presidency, he told this newspaper on Thursday, “Of course! I know that I am.”
And when asked if he believed that he should be retained in his past portfolio and what did he believe was the logical thing for the current administration to do in these circumstances, he said that it was not about retaining a position and he should still be given the opportunity to keep his job. “I have a contract and I thought the thing to do was to call me for a conversation on the matter and let me decide,” he reasoned.
Harmon’s three-year contract as Director General of the Ministry of the Presidency, a post created after he was forced to resign as a parliamentarian and Minister of State due to him being a dual citizen, was signed on the 1st of May, 2019.
Under Harmon’s contract, he received a salary of nine hundred thousand dollars ($900,000) per month; duty allowance of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars ($250,000) per month (non-taxable); entertainment allowance of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) per month (non-taxable); housekeeping allowance of one hundred and twenty-eight thousand, four hundred dollars ($128,400) per month (non-taxable); and a gardener allowance of sixty-five thousand dollars ($65,000) per month (non-taxable).
Housing for the then Director General was paid for by government along with paid local, cellular, and international calls as part of a telephone allowance.
Harmon also received Government-paid GTT Blaze internet; a motor car and driver provided by the state or a duty-free concession for a vehicle of up to 4000CC per three (3) year period; entitlement to twenty four (24) hour security at his place of residence and payment of the electricity bill at his place of residence.
He was eligible for (42) days’ vacation counting from the anniversary date of appointment and a gratuity at the rate of twenty-two and one half percent (22½%) of basic salary, calculated at half yearly intervals.
