…given full-time appointment as COVID-19 taskforce

ONE day after he was appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National COVID-19 Task Force (NCTF) Secretariat by President David Granger, the Ministry of the Presidency (MOTP) announced that Joseph Harmon will no longer function as its Director General.
The announcement was made on Saturday. As CEO, Harmon, under the general or specific directions of the Chairman of the NCTF, Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo will establish a permanent National Task Force secretariat; assign permanent staff to manage the national campaign; create preventive measures against the disease to safeguard citizens’ health and collaborate with regional task forces and stakeholders to safeguard citizens’ health.
Prior to his appointment as Director-General of the Ministry of the Presidency, Harmon was the country’s Minister of State. He, however, was among four government ministers with dual citizenship, who tendered their resignations on April 1, 2019, in keeping with the indications of the High Court and the Court of Appeal that it is unconstitutional for a person who swore allegiance, obedience or adherence to a foreign power or state to be a Member of Parliament.

And even as he was appointed Director-General of the Ministry of the Presidency, Harmon submitted an application to the US Embassy here in Georgetown, Guyana, asking that his citizenship be relinquished. By October, 2019, Harmon was informed by the US Embassy that his US citizenship was relinquished effective 31st July, 2019.

Under his new position, Harmon is responsible, under the direction of the Chair, for directing the NCTF operations and restarting interrupted activities; all important logistics measures necessary to prevent the disease from spreading further, directing rapid responses to unexpected and emergency incidents; developing short-term plans for disease prevention and safety of the people and communicating directly with agencies, ministries, regional task force, agencies and stakeholders. The CEO is responsible also for disseminating accurate information with regard to COVID-19 to the public.