PUBLIC Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan on Friday said that he would have preferred Deputy Superintendent of Police Motie Dookie remained on duty rather than be sent on special leave.

“The man gets a free salary and he ain’t doing nothing because that is what special leave does, rather than him working even if you had to put him in the K9 section. I would have preferred him working to tell you the honest truth,” Ramjattan told reporters at an Alliance for Change (AFC) press conference on Friday, despite much reluctance to speak on the matter.

Dookie, the former head of the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) Unit who was the lone passenger in a minibus which was busted last December with large amounts of smuggled whisky, was recently sent on leave by Minister of Citizenship Winston Felix, who was at the time performing the duties of Minister of Public Security. This is the second set of leave that Dookie has been sent on within the last few months, even as he awaits departmental charges which are to be instituted against him when the Police Service Commission is constituted.

Two weeks ago, Crime Chief Paul Williams had removed Dookie out of No.2 Sub Division in ‘A’ Division while he (Williams) was acting top cop. Ramnarine had posted Dookie to ‘A’ Division after the officer returned from a long period of leave that followed the whisky scandal. Ramnarine defended his decision by saying that “Dookie could not be kept within four walls.”

On Friday when asked his views on the perception that the action taken against Dookie constitutes racism, the Public Security Minister said “I don’t think it is racism because I myself when I heard about what had happened had indicated that a policeman like that should be fired, but as I had also done with the caveat, it must be done in accordance with the rule of law and that falls within the Police Service Commission (PSC).”

The minister acknowledged that there are a number of other senior police officers who have committed egregious acts but were not sent on special leave. Instead they were moved around. He said too, the implications of sending Dookie on special leave while others remain actively on the job can have some implications. “…that is why I said wait until the Police Service Commission (PSC), and in my absence he (Felix) touched it and I do not want to go there because he was performing the functions of the Public Security Minister,” Ramjattan explained.

He said the decision taken should be viewed as a matter of opinion. “An opinion was given and a decision made. I am not going to do all kinds of disagreements with my fellow colleague and cabinet member. Not going to go and attack other senior members who have also done some things. We need senior members in the Force, notwithstanding their indiscretions to manage it,” Ramjattan stated.

He reminded that a number of persons have been removed from the Force as a result of retirement so there is a role for senior members of the Guyana Police Force. “You are left with a leadership that has risen to the standard of superintendent or deputy superintendent that is very limited,” Ramjattan added. In this vein, the minister made it clear that no other senior officer who has been accused of indiscretions recently will be removed. “They will stay. I will not be removing the other seven or eight of them,” he declared, while making it clear that all of decisions taken by Felix while performing the functions of Public Security Minister are “Valid and legal”. Felix is a former Commissioner of Police .

Meanwhile, when contacted Felix said that an administrative decision was taken to have Dookie sent on leave in the public’s interest as it was found that in December 2017, he acted in a manner that was in contradiction to his duties. The minister related that to keep Dookie on the job would have been a bad example to his juniors who are looking on and are following the matter very closely. While he did not state how long Dookie would remain off the job, Felix indicated that when the Police Service Commission (PSC) is constituted Dookie’s matter would be addressed and a determination made by that body with respect to how they should handle the matter.