LEADER of the Opposition, Brigadier (rtd) David Granger, during the consultation on the substantive appointment of Mr. Seelall Persaud as Commissioner of Police, was “unfindable” – a play on words relative to the television show ‘The Untouchables’.These sentiments were expressed by Head of the Presidential Secretariat (HPS), Dr. Roger Luncheon, when asked about the process yesterday at his post-Cabinet news conference held at the Office of the President.

“I know President Ramotar has been chasing behind David Granger, morning, noon and night. He ain’t no easy cat to get in touch with…if it hadn’t been for intermediaries, there is a television show the ‘Untouchables’, he would have been the ‘Unfindables’. The man ain’t easy to find,” he said.
Granger, the presidential candidate of the Alliance of the coalesced A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC), last Friday conveyed a different version of events. “I did not have consultation with the President… I see he went off and purported to swear in the Acting Commissioner in the capacity of substantive Commissioner. I don’t know how that could be done in defiance of Article 211 of the Constitution,” he said.
However, Dr. Luncheon maintains that there was consultation, the parameters of which are defined by the Constitution.
“If Mr. Granger wasn’t consulted on this subject…this is decidedly at odds with reality, at odds with what has taken place. The only reason I could imagine that Mr. Granger made that remark, maybe it has to do with a judgment that David Granger has about what he feels constitutes consultation,” he said.
The HPS stated that evidence of consultations exist.
He said, “I have correspondence from Mr. Granger in response to correspondence from us at the Office of the President addressing specifically the issue of the appointment and confirmation in office of Mr. Seelall Persaud.”
He added, “It is strange. When Mr. Seelall Persaud was appointed as the Acting Commissioner (of Police) the records will show that Mr. David Granger, as he did in the case of Mr. Leroy Brummell, sought to make a substantive appointment from the get go.
“…it is ironic that when the President approached him to do the substantive appointment and said, ‘Bannas I ready’ – you can’t find David and he unveiled a series of his disquiet and his reluctance (to a substantive appointment).”
All considered, Dr. Luncheon contends that Granger’s sentiments are not based on reality, but on understanding of what should have happened.

“If he went through all of that with us and is still saying that he wasn’t consulted, then what he really might have been saying is ‘I ain’t like the results of the consultation’. This is what I think he is saying,” he said.
Persaud, the former acting Police Commissioner, acceded to the post after a swearing-in ceremony at the Presidential Complex, last week. In the presence of members of the Police Service Commission, Guyana Police Force’s High Command, head of the Joint Services, the Home Affairs and Legal Affairs Ministers, senior members of the judiciary and family members, Commissioner Persaud thanked President Donald Ramotar and his administration for their confidence in him.
Police Commissioner Persaud has served in the force for close to 31 years, with most of that time spent in the Criminal Investigations Department (CID). He served as head of the anti-narcotics squad for 10 years and CID for seven, serving in both coastal and interior locations. Persaud, 51, holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Public Management and a Post-Graduate Diploma in International Studies from the University of Guyana.

(By Vanessa Narine)