Presidential CoI Report
– says Cabinet yet to see leaked report
The final report of the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the alleged plot to assassinate President David Granger was handed over to the President just over two weeks ago, but things took a turn when the Office of the President secretly leaked this report to the Guyana Chronicle, bringing into question the abuse of the state media.
The state newspaper, under the direct responsibility of Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, published that the report recommends that substantive Police Commissioner Seelall Persaud should be forced to resign, or be removed from office if he refuses to resign.
“The Commission recommends that Commissioner Seelall Persaud should be made to resign his position as Commissioner of Police for the Guyana Police Force, under such terms and conditions that His Excellency considers appropriate. Failing which, proceedings should be initiated in accordance with Article 225 of the Constitution of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana to have him removed from office for misbehaviour,” the newspaper reported.
According to the report, the Commission also found that Police Commissioner Persaud acted improperly when he instructed Inspector Prem Narine to send Nizam Khan on bail on the night of March 29.
It was also recommended that Persaud be investigated for perjury in relation to his statement, wherein he said he was not aware of the allegations until after 16:00hrs on March 29; whereas Assistant Commissioner Clifton Hicken told the CoI that he had reported the incident to Persaud at round 10:00hrs on that same day.
Assistant Police Commissioner David Ramnarine was acting Police Commissioner when the allegation was levelled. He told the CoI that he felt a proper investigation was not conducted. The report instructs that sanctions be imposed against him for his failure to ensure that a proper investigation be conducted.
In relation to Crime Chief, Senior Superintendent Wendell Blanhum, Commissioner of the Inquiry, retired Assistant Police Commissioner Paul Slowe, recommends that he be replaced for poor leadership; and questions were raised about his role in the successful solution of crimes under his watch.
“…Blanhum should be replaced as Crime Chief and (be) reassigned in order to gain command experience,” the report instructed.
During the CoI, Blanhum had testified that because of the nature of the allegation, a decision was taken to have the Major Crimes Unit investigate the matter; and he said he had received several reports of Gillard frustrating the investigation.
He had said that the Police Legal Adviser, retired Justice Claudette Singh SC, did not recommend that any charges be made in the matter, because the evidence was tenuous and there was simply nothing to charge anyone with.
Blanhum had told the CoI that he was not responsible for finding out whether proper records were documented. He had explained that he functioned at the executive level of the Guyana Police Force (GPF), and there were supervisors and other ranks below him who were tasked with those responsibilities.
He had also related that he did not find it strange that the men were released less than 24 hours following commencement of the investigation.
During his testimony, the Crime Chief had clashed with Slowe several times, with the latter being visibly upset during Blanhum’s testimony.
“His lack of supervision of this important investigation; his utterances, disrespect, and arrogance displayed before the Commission show that he is incapable of functioning as crime chief, the lead investigator and manager of the major investigating unit of the GPF. Blanhum should be replaced as Crime Chief and reassigned in order to gain command experience,” Slowe recommended.
Slowe further recommended that Blanhum’s deputy, Senior Superintendent Rishi Dass, be disciplined for neglect of duty, for failing to ensure that the correct date of the allegation made by Andriff Gillard was recorded.
“The Commission recommends that he should be replaced as the Deputy Crime Chief. His efficacy in the CID also comes into question, and therefore he should be removed from that department,” the report said.
Disappointment
Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan has said he has not yet been able to access the report. He said he is of the view that the recommendations are serious, and he would not publicly comment on the reported contents. He added that Cabinet is as well yet to see the report.
In expressing his disappointment at the report being leaked, the minister noted that he had wanted to deliberate the contents with the President and Prime Minister before the public got access to the document.
“I understand that there were some serious recommendations, but I did not want to make any statement publicly. I wanted to discuss that with the relevant authorities, namely the President and Prime Minister, before (I comment). I’m not going to make a comment on it, even though it’s already out there. It requires deliberations, and we will proceed (to deliberate). There were some negatives found; and, yes, we have to take care of that. We want a robust Police Force, we want security sector reform, and we are in the process (of acquiring) that, and the report did bring out a couple of things that ought not to have been done,” he said.
“I am going to make my statement as to whether all that was recommended will happen or all will not happen. (It) can have, also, negative consequences for an institution; so it is important we do make measured responses to the effect that we do not throw (out) the child with the bathwater.
“There were some strong recommendations made, as were reported, and I don’t know how that managed to be leaked like that. I strongly think that it should have reached there (the public domain) after some strong discussions and deliberations,” he added.
Recap
On March 29 last, Andriff Gillard reported to the Police that his friend and neighbor, Nizam Khan, had offered him $7 million to assassinate the President. He said the offer was made during a conversation between Khan and himself after he had approached Khan to borrow $6 million to purchase a property.
Following the allegation, President Granger commissioned an inquiry to investigate how the Police had done their investigation of the allegation, and to make recommendations to address flaws and shortcomings on behalf of the Guyana Police Force.
The investigation into the alleged plot is still ongoing. It is unclear what actions would be taken, but the President has said there would be a major shakeup at the helm of the GPF.
