Court will determine legal basis – Minister of State

Halted Police promotions

Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, has made it pellucid that the President has the authority to halt the promotion of members of the Guyana Police Force.
The minister made this announcement at a post-Cabinet press briefing on Friday, when asked by the media about the legal basis for the halt. Harmon noted that the President acted based on information he had received.
Under the orders of President David Granger, Harmon had dispatched a letter to the Police Service Commission (PSC), instructing it to put a halt on the promotions of a number of senior officers.
“The President does not act capriciously, as some persons want to feel he did not follow the law,” Harmon said. “The President acts after clear and deliberate consultations with the heads of his services. In the system of security, the National Security Committee meets once every week, and is chaired by the President, and therefore reports come to him from the Commissioner of Police, from the head of the army, from the head of the National Anti-Narcotics Agency, and from the intelligence agencies that sit there every week.”
During the recently concluded Commission of Inquiry into the Police investigation of an alleged plot to assassinate the President, a number of senior police officers testified before the commission. These included officers from the Major Crimes Unit of the Criminal Investigation Department, and the Crime Chief himself, Wendell Blanhum.
Blanhum and other members of the unit had been forced to defend the integrity of the investigation in the face of remonstrations from Chair of the CoI, retired Assistant Police Commissioner Paul Slowe. It was revealed that a number of those who testified were on the list to be promoted. President David Granger ordered the Police Service Commission to temporarily halt the promotions until certain complaints have been ivestigated.

The list
A perusal of the list shows that some of the chosen ones include Assistant Commissioner of Police Clifton Hicken. He was tipped to be promoted to Deputy Commissioner of Police; while current Crime Chief, Senior Superintendent Wendell Blanhum had been lined up for Assistant Commissioner.
Head of Special Branch, Brian Eastman, was also listed to become a Senior Superintendent of Police, while Head of Major Crimes, Assistant Superintendent Mitchell Caesar, had been recommended for Deputy Superintendent.
Minister Harmon, in a letter dated July 27, wrote to the PSC informing them that the President directed that there be no consideration of promotion for members of the Guyana Police Force until further notice.
The matter has not gone down well with legal minds and observers, including the political opposition. Former Attorney General Anil Nandlall, in a letter to Harmon dated July 26, had threatened legal action unless the President’s directive was withdrawn.
Nandlall’s letter to Harmon argues that the President’s directive violates both the letter and spirit of Article 226(1) of the Constitution of Guyana. The Constitution states“…in the exercise of its functions under this Constitution, a Commission shall not be subject to the direction or control of any other person or authority.”
Further, Article 226(7) states, “In this article…the expression ‘commission’ means the Elections Commission, the Judicial Service Commission, the Public Service Commission, the Teaching Service Commission, (and) the Police Service Commission.”
That withdrawal never came, and legal proceedings were filed a few days ago by one Rajendra R Jaigobin against the PSC. According to Jaigobin in his challenge, he has a vested interest in ensuring that Guyana’s Constitution is not violated.
He has described it as his national duty to ensure that those representatives who, and the democratic organs which, exercise the sovereignty of Guyana on his behalf act in due compliance with the said Constitution in the discharge of their public functions and constitutional duties.
Responding to this legal challenge, Harmon has adopted a wait-and-see attitude.
He reiterated that the President received information and acted in the national interest to prevent “harm or injury to the security fabric” of Guyana.
“We will see whether there is any basis in law for the challenge to take place, which says that the President of the country, having received information that has been brought up by a system of reports, which says that there is some action to take place will cause harm or injury to the security fabric of this country, that he cannot take any action about it. I would like to see that argument whenever it comes.”
Meanwhile, Harmon also refuted reports that there are plans to disband the Major Crimes Unit in the wake of damning testimony being made against its work before the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the alleged plot to assassinate the President.