– Rohee
SCRAPPING the £4.9M security reform programme proposed by the United Kingdom (UK) has not set back the sector, Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee has maintained. He assured, however, that reform will continue, funded by the Guyana Government.
“Whatever the funds were under the security reform programme, the Government has said it will provide the same resources,” Rohee reiterated at a Freedom House media briefing yesterday.
Former Commissioner of Police, Mr. Winston Felix had claimed, recently, that the Force suffered severely when the UK proposal was not pursued.
The five main elements of it were:
* building the occupational capacity of the Guyana Police Force GPF);
* strengthening policy-making across the security sector to make it more transparent, effective and better coordinated;
* mainstreaming financial management of security into the public sector financial management reform;
* creating substantial parliamentary and other oversight of the security sector and
* building greater public participation and inclusiveness in security sector issues.
In the latter part of December 2008, the Government of Guyana and the UK Government, following an agreement in Georgetown, submitted a design to the principals in the UK.

Unilaterally
However, in April 2009, Guyanese were advised about the redesign that was unilaterally done by the UK and submitted in their response to the joint December 2008 submission.
Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon made it clear, at the time, that the new design violated the sovereignty of Guyana.
“It was drawn to the attention of the British High Commission here in Guyana and it was agreed that the Government would submit its revised version of the British design. The President was involved in that activity and, ultimately, the British High Commission was presented with a document that, in great detail, outlined what was the Guyanese version of the model to be used to design and, ultimately, to implement the Security Sector Reform Project.
“Lo and behold, the President was involved in the discussion surrounding the new design submitted by the Guyanese team when he was informed that the project itself had been halted and the UK Government had provided him with information saying that they were not interested in pursuing an agreement with the Government of Guyana,” he said.
“The plug was, as a result, pulled and the proposal scrapped,” Luncheon said.
“Security Sector Reform will continue in Guyana, maybe at a different pace and the scope and the design will be different, but the implementation of that will be from public funds from the Government of Guyana,” the HPS said
The Home Affairs Minister said the current administration remains committed to supporting the development of Guyana.
Rohee said the local members of the Force continue to contribute significantly and pointed out that ongoing training supports the reform drive.
According to him, in addition to the many cadet officers being trained, there are several senior officers who “have what it takes” to do the job.
He informed the media that all the positions of Assistant Commissioners are filled but the posts of Deputy Commissioner (Administration) and Deputy Commissioner (Law Enforcement) are vacant, although two Assistant Commissioners have taken up the duties associated with these posts.
Felix had declared that putting foreigners in top posts would lower the morale of local officers, but Rohee stressed that this has never been the intention of the administration as there are several capable officers who have the ability to take on top posts.