Dear Editor,
When Commissioner of Police (COP) Seelall Persaud retired, the most senior officer in the Guyana Police Force was David Ramnarine, the second most senior officer was Clifton Hicken. President David Granger bypassed these two officers and appointed four Deputy Com-missioners and a Commissioner; all of whom were junior to Ramnarine and Hicken.
David Granger is well known for his bizarre interpretation of laws and his actions can hardly be used for justification of anything but Granger was able to explain his reasoning in private to (then) Leader of the Opposition Bharrat Jagdeo who said “the President explained the process he used to select the commissioner of police and why David Ramnarine was not confirmed…He said there were specific reasons why he was not selected and he did not say why”. Following this meeting Leslie James was confirmed as Commissioner of Police. Granger publicly justified his decision by saying he relied heavily on the advice of the Police Service Commission. The most senior officer is not always chosen by the President of Guyana to assume the top job.
Article 211 (1) of the Constitution of Guyana states, ‘The Commis-sioner of Police and every Deputy Commissioner of Police shall be appointed by the President acting after meaningful consultation with the Leader of the Opposition and Chairperson of the Police Service Commission after the Chairperson has consulted with other members of the Commission’.
President Ali was placed in an unfortunate position as David Granger is yet to allocate a seat in Parliament to the new PNCR Leader Aubrey Norton who aspires to be the new Leader of the Opposition and the Police Service Commission is not constituted as a legal barrier has been erected by the previous commission as they seek tenure of office. Aubrey Norton added to the absurdity of the PNCR’s predicament by stating his intention to challenge the appointment of Clifton Hicken as Acting Commissioner in the courts. Apart from the clear power granted to the President to solely appoint the Commissioner of Police, there are other factors Norton should consider before approaching the courts.
David Granger was not the first President to bypass the most senior officer in appointing a new Commis-sioner; Deputy Commissioners of Police, Kilkenny and Laurie Lewis were seconded to the Prisons and National Guard Service respectively, and during that time officers junior to them took over operational responsibilities of the Force. This would have occurred under the tenure of COP Balram Raghubir who became the first Indo-Guyanese COP when he was appointed by President Hoyte. There was also no allegation of illegality when Hoyte bypassed David Granger who was Commander of the Army and senior to Major General (Rtd) Joseph Singh for the Chief of Staff position.
Editor, should the PNCR get its internal squabbles under control and manage to persuade the APNU+AFC leader of the list to appoint persons to the seats vacated by Joe Harmon and Nicolette Henry, and a new Leader of the Opposition is then elected, I would suspect that consultations would reveal the reasoning behind President Ali’s appointment of Clifton Hicken. I am unaware of any investigations into the conduct of Hicken but cannot vouchsafe for others. Patience and a still tongue would serve the new PNCR leader well as he learns the ropes of governance.
Sincerely,
Robin Singh