Town Clerk of Georgetown, Royston King in a statement addressed to the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) stated that the decision to dismiss the two City Constabulary Officers, who were allegedly named in the case regarding the sexual assault of a juvenile while in detention, was made to “preserve the good name and image” of the City Council. He said that the matter has since been turned over to the Police.
In the statement seen by INews, King explained that the City Police have “a legal and statutory duty to uphold and enforce the law not to disrespect and break,” and as such asserted that “anyone who has chosen to disrespect, disregard and break the law is not worthy to be part of the City Constabulary.”
King added that the matter is of a criminal nature which ordinarily falls under the jurisdiction and auspices of the Guyana Police Force. “While the committee was permitted to embark on a fact finding mission to determine the legitimacy of the allegations, the seriousness thereof warranted that the matter be handed over to the Guyana Police Force as soon as possible so that it could be properly dealt with according to the laws of Guyana,” King stated.
Meanwhile, the Town Clerk disclosed that following this incident, he met with the Acting Police Commissioner, David Ramnarine, on Thursday last, to request assistance with capacity building within the City Constabulary so that similar incidents could be adequately dealt with.
Following is part of the statement by King addressed to the Mayor and City Council on Monday last in relation to the sexual assault incident:
I must now advise this honourable council that, this involved a matter of a criminal nature which ordinarily falls under the jurisdiction and auspices of the Guyana Police Force. While the committee was permitted to embark on a fact finding mission to determine the legitimacy of the allegations the seriousness thereof warranted that the matter be handed over to the Guyana Police Force as soon as possible so that it could be properly dealt with according to the laws of Guyana and that the good image of the Mayor and City Council would not be called into disrepute.
The approximate one month period with which the committee was seized with the matter without a final report or recommendations could have possibly subjected the council to an allegation of interference with the administration of justice, particularly in circumstances where the welfare of a child was involved where the council, as is every other institution in Guyana, mandated by law or morally to protect. It is upon that, a decision was made, by me, as the Chief Administrator of the Council and as Head of the Constabulary to turn the matter over to the Guyana Police Force. I did so in a letter dated October 17, 2017, to Commander of ADivision, Mr. Marlon Chapman. On that same day, I informed the Chairman of the Human Resource Management Committee by letter under my hand of my decision. Copies of that letter were sent to all the actors involved.
In the case of the dismal of the two officers, I exercise powers under section 77 of the Act, in a matter of discipline, to preserve the good name and image of this council and to prevent this honourable house from any allegation of interference of the administration of justice and attempts to cover-up an act of a criminal nature by a member of the constabulary. In any event, the council has an almost sacred duty to provide strong spiritual, moral and civic leadership and we could not have gone on they we were going without making a fundamental error in judgment and the way we manage the city.
