Despite mounting criticisms over the appointment of yet another party member into a senior Government position, Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo has defended the decision to appoint Alliance For Change (AFC) member and Director of Public Information, Imran Khan, as the acting Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Guyana National Newspaper Limited (GNNL) – publisher of the State-owned Chronicle Newspaper.
Speaking at the AFC press conference on Friday, Nagamootoo, who is also the party’s acting Chairman, explained that Khan is a member of the GNNL Board, a position which he earned from a Cabinet decision.
Nagamootoo further pointed out that there was a vacancy for the Chairman and in such circumstances, someone from among the Board members usually takes up the position in the interim while a replacement is sought.
“Mr Khan, in the way I had appointed the Chairperson in the first instance, has been appointed by the competent Minister to be the acting chairperson until such a time that you would have a permanent person named and the vacancy in the GNNL is filled,” he stated.
Nevertheless, the Prime Minister posited that he is confident that Khan, who is his representative on the GNNL Board, will efficiently execute his new duties since he is already seeing position changes at the State-owned newspaper.
“I have full confidence in the capacity of Mr Khan to execute the functions of the Chairman of the GNNL, and in fact I must say that under his stewardship I have seen some improvement in the public image of the Chronicle Newspaper,” Nagamootoo remarked.
Prime Minister Nagamootoo had announced Khan’s appointment on October 31; one month after former GNNL Chairman Jean La Rose had resigned to take up a new office provided by Government in which she will have more opportunities and space to work with and on behalf of indigenous communities in Guyana.
Khan’s appointment came as a surprise by many, especially since there have been concerns over the independence of the media entity. Khan was a candidate for the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) coalition in the May 2015 General and Regional Elections.
In September 2015, Prime Minister Nagamootoo had explained that Khan was appointed a member of the GNNL and National Communications Network (NCN) boards to represent him and the interest of Government.
However, Khan subsequently resigned from the NCN Board following the selection and later appointment of Lennox Cornette as the State broadcaster’s Chief Executive Officer.
