THE Ministry of Home Affairs (MOHA) pointed out, on Tuesday, that Head of the Strategic Management Department (SMD) of the Guyana Police Force (GPF), Mr. Patrick Mentore was granted approval to proceed on vacation leave from April 28.

The ministry’s statement was in reference to a Kaieteur News article, of May 4, headlined ‘Head of Strategic Management Department sent on Administrative leave’.
Refuting the newspaper report, the ministry said its records revealed that the grant was the result of an application made by Mentore, in keeping with the terms and conditions of his employment.
The ministry said it is unaware of the suggestion, in the Kaieteur News, that Mentore was sent on ‘administrative leave’.
It is a fact that a Management Audit of the SMD is about to commence and that is not an unusual event, as it forms part of the monitoring and evaluation mechanism for the SMD that was implemented by virtue of the ministry’s oversight responsibility for the GPF, the statement explained.
“The issue of the assignment of a vehicle to the SMD is a matter that falls under the purview of the GPF.
“Further, the MOHA disassociates itself from the negative comments about the SMD that appeared in the said newspaper article,” the statement said.