It is ‘time over‘ for Henry Greene

Dear Editor,

It is time enough and time over for Mr Henry Greene to be dismissed from the office of Police Commissioner and for the President to exercise his considerable powers under the Constitution of Guyana and  remove him from the high office he holds in this land. The special joint Guyana-Jamaica police committee set up to look into the matter of whether a charge of rape should be brought against him, submitted its report to the acting Police Commissioner, Mr Leroy Brummell since January 13, 2012,  with a clear recommendation as follows:  “It is therefore highly unprofessional of him [Henry Greene] to have used his public office to engage the complainant in furtherance of sexual favours and as such invokes article 225 (2) of the Constitution.”

Article 225 (2) of the constitution makes provision for the President to do this, and I urge him to act swiftly within these provisions which state:  “The officer may be removed from office only for inability to discharge the functions of his office (whether arising from infirmity of body and mind or any other cause whatsoever) or for misbehaviour.” (My emphasis).  Section (3) of article 225 further says that the officer in question shall be removed by the President based on the recommendation made to the President of a tribunal.

The President already has the voices of citizens resoundingly calling for Mr Greene to go, and he has one official recommendation in hand, so he should proceed further, if needs be, with all alacrity drawing on the constitutional provisions and powers vested in him. And, may I add that it is at times like these when the non-compliance of the government with the constitution in appointing an Ombudsman is most keenly felt by citizens and drives home the denial of our rights to have recourse to such.

There is, of course, the other question as to whether Mr Greene is either past retirement age, or of retirement age, and if so, this further begs the question as to why he seems to have ‘sacred cow’ status and has not yet demitted office.  Given his chequered history over the years, it was an error of judgement to have had him appointed in the first place, but the President now has the opportunity to act in accordance with the constitution and deem him unfit for this high office. It is the least that can be done in bringing some degree of closure to this disgraceful situation that has dragged on for far too long.

Several allegations of behaviour unbecoming have dogged Mr Greene for many, many years. Additionally, of course, there are other reports, including the suspension of his visas to certain countries with which Guyana has strong and long-standing diplomatic ties.  No citizen can be assured that such a publicly compromised person can or will give leadership to or set an example for the ranks of the Guyana Police Force with its mandate to “Serve and Protect” the nation at large. Surely, no woman can feel secure that the laws on rape and other sexual offences will be enforced under his watch.

The majority of citizens of Guyana have lost confidence in Mr Henry Greene’s ability, capacity and in his character to suitably hold this post of Commissioner of Police. He has done great disservice to the Guyana Police Force and to the government and people of Guyana.

The broad consensus is that Greene must go. Ministers of government, present and past, and members of parliament, legal practitioners, the media, human rights bodies, women’s organisations, civic and professional groups, NGOs and individual citizens here and in the diaspora have all called for Mr Greene’s removal.  It is simply not right that this disgraced public servant remains “on leave,” probably drawing pay at citizens’ expense.

The lawyers will quibble from now to kingdom come on the rape charge brought and/or dropped against Henry Greene, about the DPP’s brief and CJ Ian Chang‘s ruling.
A lot of legal spittle is being expended!  Perhaps some good may come of this. Yet the sad but true fact is that many citizens of all ages and both sexes who have suffered rape have not benefited from the legal and justice systems while rapists still walk far too free and easy today in Guyana.

Glaringly, there is also the perception that the poor and vulnerable lose out in terms of justice and access to justice, while the ‘big ones’ –  the powerful in the society are likely to slip more easily off the hook and book of the law.

What is without contention is that by his own admission, Mr Greene abused his office through engaging sexual favours from a complainant, thereby violating the position he holds as Police Commissioner, and if only on this fact alone, there are grounds for his dismissal in keeping with the constitution.

Persons have called on Mr Greene to do the “honourable” thing and resign, but that is unlikely to happen, since Mr Greene lacks this particular attribute.  Hence we are looking to the President to do the honourable thing, with the considerable powers he has under the constitution, and have Mr Greene dismissed in the ‘now’ time-frame.

Yours faithfully,
Vanda Radzik