Commissioner of Police (ag) Nigel Hoppie has disclosed that the appointment of two civilians to head the Guyana Police Force’s new Corporate Communications Unit (CCU) was in keeping with recommendations made by United Kingdom (UK) consultants following a visit here in 2019.
“…The appointment is in keeping with the recommendations from a PR [Public Relations] consultancy report that was done by some consultants…..There were several recommendations made but I am certain that one of the recommendations would have been that civilians occupy the upper echelon of the public relations department,” Hoppie said while addressing questions during the recently launched “Police and You” radio programme, which was broadcast last Tuesday.
In January, 2019, ranks attached to the force’s then Public Relations department benefited from a workshop in Media Relations and Communications Skill.
The training was facilitated by Dr Joan Boyd and Susan Corbett, two Media Relations and Communications Specialists from the UK and was in keeping with the force reform process.
According to Hoppie, there were also recommendations for reconfiguration of the department, among other things.
“….It’s part of our strategic plan, 2019 through 2021. And in this plan we have five priority areas. We have performance, we have developing our people, we have operational priorities, infrastructure and partnership,” the acting Top Cop said.
In January this year, the GPF announced the appointments of Mark Ramotar and Stan Gouveia as the Director and Deputy Director, respectively, of its CCU.
The move has seen concerns being raised about their appointments and just recently APNU+AFC Member of Parliament Geeta Chandan-Edmond moved to the National Assembly for answers on the appointments, while stating that the CCU appears to have been set up in secrecy.
Chandan-Edmond previously told this newspaper that while the opposition does not oppose to the force hiring “professional” civilians to execute its work, it must be done in a transparent manner.
“It appears this unit was established under a cloud of secrecy because there was no advertisement or no engagement by the government on the matter,” she said, while also noting that “We need to ensure that qualified persons were duly appointed and that there was due process.”
Among the questions for which Chandan-Edmond is seeking written responses from Minister of Home Affairs Robeson Benn is about the criteria used in selecting Ramotar and Gouveia and whether a process, if any, was employed to determine whether they are of good character and are fit and proper to hold the offices, especially, when they would be representing the GPF.
Chandan-Edmond also asked that Benn release the “portfolio, qualifications and responsibilities, duration of contracted period, the commencement date of employment and terms and conditions of Ramotar and Gouveia, in addition to information on their paid salaries, benefits and emoluments, as well as any additional costs to taxpayers.
She has also asked for information on the size of the unit, the number of civilians and police staffing it, their qualifications, their paid salaries, emoluments and benefits, the criteria used in selecting them and whether the posts were advertised.
