Three former Ministers of government were last evening appointed to key posts within the Foreign Service including Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett as Ambassador the United Nations.
In addition, Former Director General Audrey Waddell was returned to the Foreign Ministry as Permanent Secretary.
A statement from Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Hugh Todd announced that Waddell who had been sent on leave in December would return to lead the Foreign Service.
As part of a “organisational restructuring” of the Ministry in December, Granger has sent Waddell on leave pending reassignment and appointed career diplomat Charlene Phoenix to the newly created post of Permanent Secretary which replaced the designation of Director General.
Todd has not explained what will happen to Phoenix’s appointment.
He however stated that former Minister of Foreign Affairs Rodrigues-Birkett will hold the post of Guyana’s Ambassador to the United Nations. She will also take up the Chair of The Group of 77 (G77) and China.
Rodgriues-Birkett who held the post of Foreign Affairs Minister from 2008-2015 has for the last five years been employed with the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). She was appointed Director of the FAO Liaison Office with the United Nations in Geneva in August 2017.
The former Minister as UN Ambassador will replace Michael Ten-Pow whose contract with the Guyana government expired on July 31.
Early last month Ten-Pow had informed all the Permanent Representatives of the Member States of the Group of 77 and China as well as the Caucus of CARICOM Permanent Representatives that he would not be seeking or accepting a renewal of the soon to expire contract.
Also appointed last evening was a new Foreign Secretary in the person of Robert Persaud, the former Minister of Natural Resources in the Donald Ramotar administration.
Persaud who went on a “political sabbatical” in 2015 returned to the scene during the later stages of the 2020 elections campaign. It is not clear what his duties are in the post which was created by the David Granger-led government after Foreign Minister Carl Greenidge was forced to resign.
Greenidge along with former Minister of State Joseph Harmon and Minister Rupert Roopnaraine and Dominic Gaskin were forced to leave the National Assembly since Guyana’s constitution prohibits a dual citizen from serving in the Assembly.
As Foreign Secretary, Greenidge entered an appearance as State Agent in the ongoing case at the International Court of Justice over the Guyana-Venezuela border controversy.
He will continue to do so in his new post with the PPP/C government as Advisor on Borders.
Todd concluded that these individual appointed “will help to bolster the Ministry’s foreign relations, technical and administrative capacity, as well as serve to strengthen [his] ministerial mandate.”
