Ramnarine stripped of Commander post - banished to obsolete department at Eve Leary
In a move that is certain to be viewed as a means of silencing him, outspoken Assistant Commissioner of Police David Ramnarine has been relieved of his post as Commander of the Force’s East Coast Demerara Division.
Ramnarine, who was scheduled to resume duties on Wednesday following his Annual Vacation Leave, has been “banished” to the Department of Development, leaving his one-time Deputy, Senior Superintendent Owen Trotz, to run the volatile Division which currently leads in the most murders so far this year.
Assistant Commissioner David Ramnarine
The move against Ramnarine comes a few months after his public spat with Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee, following his outspokenness on the allocation of funds for the police elections duties.
The Assistant Commissioner had publicly declared that he had received no money from the Guyana Police Force to feed the ranks in the Interior Division, who were under his command during the elections period.
His openness rattled Minister Rohee, who accused him of breaching the Force’s Standing Orders, which prohibited him from speaking publicly on matters related to the organization.
Rohee had publicly declared that he had lost confidence in the officer and had requested that Commissioner of Police (Ag) Leroy Brumell discipline Ramnarine.
Brumell, acting on the Minister’s request, subsequently wrote to Ramnarine for him to show cause why he should not be disciplined.The outspoken Ramnarine duly sent a reply, the content of which was not made known.
That matter is presently in limbo, as Ramnarine proceeded on his Annual Vacation Leave on April 4, with a hearing still pending.
A reliable source in the hierarchy of the Force informed Kaieteur News that prior to him proceeding on leave, Ramnarine was contacted by the Office of the Commissioner of Police (Ag), advising him of an official audit into the $90M police elections duties funds. He was told that he would be needed to facilitate a certain aspect of the audit, putting paid to his plans to travel overseas.
“The leave was subsequently approved, but Ramnarine on the advice he received, informed the Force that he will make himself available,” the source said.
Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee
But Ramnarine was never contacted by the auditors and according to reports, the Auditor General has hinted at winding down the audit.
The embattled Assistant Commissioner could face censorship or a year’s seniority.
Sources within the Guyana Police Force have told this newspaper that it was not surprising that Ramnarine, upon his resumption of duty, has been reassigned to the Department of Development.
The department is viewed as a banishing ground for senior officers who run afoul with the force administration and/or the government.
It once housed embattled former Assistant Commissioners Paul Slowe - following his spat with former Home Affairs Minister Ronald Gajraj; Steve Merai, during his ‘battles’ with former Commissioner Winston Felix, and Balram Persaud, whose driver is implicated in the murder of drug counselor Ralph Turpin.
Ramnarine himself had been placed there as a Superintendent of Police, after he and the Force administration had a falling out in 2005.
“We saw this coming, it was no surprise. And then you have people saying that there is no outside (political) interference in the Force,” one Divisional Commander told this newspaper.
Ramnarine, who received his recent letter of transfer on Wednesday, declined to comment when questioned by this newspaper.
“This man was a Commander and he was not relieved of that post because of failure or any criminal allegation. He was to resume duties as a Divisional Commander. If this is not unfairness and victimization then I don’t know what is,” said a colleague of Ramnarine.
There are others who are of the view that Ramnarine went too far when he took on the Force’s Administration on his own, especially since the Minister of Home Affairs had been pronouncing on the matter.
It is the view of many that Ramnarine, who at one time was tipped to be Commissioner of Police, sealed his fate when he verbally confronted Rohee in a Letter to the Editor.
“His outspokenness has cost him. I hope he learns his lesson. There is no point trying to prove anything. This place does not reward professionalism,” the colleague said.
But even junior staff of the force lamented the treatment meted out to the former Commander.
One officer on the East Coast of Demerara, referring to the recent upsurge in criminal activity in that division and the concomitant interference and instructions by a section of the civilian community, said, “If Mr. Ramnarine was here, this woulda never happen.”
It is not too clear if the move to banish Ramnarine to the Department of Development is the end of the disciplinary action requested by the Minister of Home Affairs.
