Has Jagdeo changed his position on the position of Foreign Secretary?

Aug 12, 2024 Peeping Tom

Kaieteur News – The Stabroek News of May 17th 2019 reported that then Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, as questioning the decision of the Granger administration to create the post of Foreign Secretary.

While he did not oppose the return of the former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carl Greenidge, to the ministry to deal with border matters, Jagdeo questioned the range of Greenidge’s portfolio. He was quoted by the Stabroek News as asking, “He has become the Foreign Secretary within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with responsibility for the Department of Frontiers and Territorial Integrity and the Department of Trade and Economic Cooperation. So what is the portfolio of the minister?”

Jagdeo was reported as even querying the title of the post of ‘Foreign Secretary’, pointing out that in the United Kingdom, the Foreign Secretary is the minister. He asked, “What happens to the minister…and what happens to the Director General?” he added.

He also latched on to the issue of dual citizenship expressing concerns as of if the then Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo would have an issue with Greenidge in the position given Greenidge’s dual citizenship. Readers will recall that this issue of dual citizenship was one of the grounds upon which Ministers of the APNU+AFC government had to demit office following the legal challenges to the no-confidence motion. The court had ruled that it was unconstitutional for a member of the National Assembly to have dual citizenship

Fast forward to 2020, and the PPPC comes into office. And one of its appointments was that of a Foreign Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a position given to a former Minister of a previous PPPC government. One must ask whether Jagdeo does not have a problem any longer with the title of ‘Foreign Secretary’ and whether it overlaps or intrudes on the responsibilities of the substantive Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation.

The public needs to be advised as to the division of responsibilities between the Minister and the Foreign Affairs and the Foreign Secretary. I wonder if he is asked about this at his next press conference whether he will say he has changed his position as regards the post and whether, if questioned about any possible overlap in responsibilities between the Foreign Secretary and the Minister, whether he refers the reporter to the President or the Minister.

It is not clear also whether he holds the same objection, as he did in the past, to any dual citizen working within the Foreign Ministry as a high level. During his tenure as President, Guyana did have Honorary Counsels who were nationals of other countries or Guyanese with foreign citizenship who were appointed to such posts. Do we have any dual citizens working at Takuba Lodge?

In that same Stabroek News report of 2019, Jagdeo was also critical of what he deemed as sinecure appointments. A similar criticism has been made about such appointments in the present government in which Jagdeo is a Vice President. I wonder whether he does not see the irony.

We have a situation where Guyana has a Foreign Minister and a Foreign Secretary. The public should be told of what are the responsibilities of the latter. The website of the Foreign Ministry states that the present holder is also Guyana’s High Representative for the United Nations Security Council Affairs and Co-chair of U.S.-Caribbean High Level Action Committee on Food Security.

In relation to the former, this column had long suggested that the holder of the post of High Representative for the United Nations Security Council should be permanently based in the United States. This is especially because meetings of the Security Council can be called on an emergency basis, including late at nights.

The public also needs to be advised as to what has become of the position of Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This was a post that was usually reserved for the Head of all the diplomatic services.  This post seems to have been abolished. Has it?

On the issue of “Director General” did you, the readers, know that the Ministry of Agriculture has a Director General? Is this a public service post?

• department, Foreign Affairs, Greenidge's, Moses Nagamootoo, Prime Minister