Dear Editor,
This ‘noise-making’ over the Paul Slowe controversy – really, his court issues – smacks of disgust. It is hinged on Slowe’s dishonest attempt to implicate President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali in some kind of constitutional wrongdoings, and this continues a pattern from the Opposition quarters.
Mr Harmon and the APNU/AFC must remember that people, both in and out of Guyana, as well as the designated International Community of Election Observers are still on top of Guyana’s situation, that seems never-ending since the March 2020 Guyana Elections.
Let me list a few happenings of recent that I hope would paint a true picture of the A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) coalition and cohorts. I hope readers would see who are the ones trying to influence constitutional and independent bodies.
There was the barefaced attempt by Simona Broomes, who sought to direct the Public Service Commission to halt promotions of Public Servants upon the instructions of former President David Granger. (Talk about infringement and seeking to influence!) That was in June of 2015. At the time, Acting Chief Justice Ian Chang ruled that the directive given by the Minister in the Ministry of Social Protection, Simona Broomes, that the Public Service Commission (PSC) suspend interviews to fill vacancies within her Ministry, violated the Constitution, and as a consequence is unlawful, null, void, and of no legal effect.
Then there was the Carvil Duncan issue. Duncan, as Chairman of the Public Service Commission, was summoned to the Office of the President by President David Granger and Joseph Harmon and threatened that if he did not resign, there would be ‘blood on the carpet.’
Duncan challenged the attempt to remove him from office, and the then Attorney General, Basil Williams, threatened the Judge who was hearing the case in open court, causing the legal proceedings never to be determined.
Another example will suffice. During that May 2017 period, Attorney for Carvil Duncan, Anil Nandall, had announced his intention to challenge the appointment of Patrick Yarde as the acting Chairman of the Public Service Commission (PSC).
Yarde, as we all know, was sworn in by President David Granger as the acting Chairman of the Public Service Commission (PSC), redounding in his status as an ex-officio member of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), the Police Service Commission, and the Guyana Defence Force Commission’s Board.
Nandlall, at the time, detailed that “Patrick Yarde’s appointment was capricious, arbitrary, unlawful, and unconstitutional.” Why? In his own words: “The position of Chairman of the PSC is not vacant,” as Duncan is substantively the holder of that office, despite the fact that he was suspended and there is an attempt to remove him; the crux of which is the subject of court proceedings.
Then there was the November 2017 matter, when Chief Justice Roxanne George-Wiltshire did rule that the directive given by the Minister of State to the Police Service Commission, to put a hold on the planned promotions of senior Police Officers, was unlawful and unconstitutional.
So on and on we can go, but I think the point is clear, and it is indeed most reprehensible that after so much time had elapsed, the public is only now hearing from Mr. Paul Slowe. And I add that the President has issued the challenge, “If Mr. Slowe is saying I tried to influence him, where are the results of that influence? Where is the result?”
I firmly believe that the real reason for Slowe’s wild accusation is that he has been slapped with a $10 million fraud charge, along with a charge for sexual assault. This top lawman, who had been tasked with enforcing the law, will now have to defend “…receiving millions of dollars from the Guyana Police Force while being the Chairman of the said Constitutional Commission, wielding disciplinary powers over the very Force.”
The old adage rings true again: “Never put cat to watch milk”, so it is quite vile for this Paul Slowe to seek to smear the President in his effort to come over as some character of moral rectitude.
By the way, this same Slowe is under investigation in another (kind) of issue. The news is that “…during the months of March and April 2019, a female Assistant Superintendent, who worked along with Mr. Slowe, was allegedly sexually assaulted by Slowe three times.” No wonder he is so desperate.
The President has rejected Slowe’s accusation of ‘interfering’, and so it is now left for the embattled lawman to produce evidence to back his claim. Then he has to find further proof that the charges against him, of fraud and sexual assault, are false.
Yours truly,
Matthew Hendrix
