Patterson accuses govt. of trying to buy police votes with mass promotions

Aug 10, 2025 News

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Kaieteur News- Chairman of the Alliance for Change (AFC) David Patterson on Friday accused the government of Guyana of attempting ‘to buy the votes’ of members of the joint services with mass promotions.

Patterson told reporters at his party’s weekly press conference that, “From all accounts, the PPP [Peoples Progressive Party] government and the VP [Vice President] shamelessly wants to buy approximately 3000 police votes by mass promotion.

President Irfaan Ali recently announced the promotion of approximately 2000 members of the Guyana Police Force (GPF). In his announcement the president said that constables with five to seven years of service, who have not yet been promoted and who have no disciplinary issues, will be elevated to lance corporal and placed at the highest end of that salary scale.

He said that current lance corporals will be moved to the highest level of the lance corporal pay scale; constables with eight to 10 years of service will be promoted to corporal and also receive the highest salary within that rank and corporals who have served between eight to 10 years will now be placed at the top of the corporal scale.

Additionally, ranks with 10 to 13 years of service will be promoted to sergeant, while those between 13 and 15 years will be retained as sergeants, but moved to the highest level of the sergeant scale.

The head-of-state also said that any officer with more than 20 years of service, who has not yet reached the rank of inspector, will be automatically adjusted to that rank, receiving the salary of an inspector, so long as their record is clean.

In response, Patterson said that, “this administrative arrangement will do massive harm to meritocracy in the force.”

According to the AFC Chair, the interference by the government into the management and operations of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) at the hands of Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo has become “most unwholesome” recently. “He now assures some 800 of those who were not promoted that they will be; and, those still aggrieved, they too will receive promotions,” Patterson told reporters.

On August 8, Kaieteur News reported that Jagdeo assured members of the GPF who are eligible for promotion but were not on the recently published list, that they will be promoted.

His remarks came after President Ali ordered the promotion of more than 2,000 police ranks many of whom had been overlooked and sidelined over the years by the GPF.  However, after the promotion list was published, there were several social media posts from policemen and policewomen who said they had served the force but were not included on the list.

Jagdeo disclosed that both he and President Ali had received dozens of complaints from other ranks. “There are others who have contacted us and said that they may be bypassed or overlooked for one reason or another,” he noted.

He said he was told that the promotions will cover some 2,800 ranks. While 2,000 ranks have already been notified of their promotion, another 800 will be notified soon. While acknowledging that those who complained may be among the additional 800, he assured that all eligible ranks will be promoted.

In addition, he said there will be a review process for ranks who feel aggrieved that they have been overlooked or bypassed. Those ranks can file a complaint and have their case examined. Jagdeo noted that once confirmed, those ranks will also be promoted.

“So, I just wanted to say that publicly here, so that if there are concerns or misgivings among policemen and policewomen… if they feel that they have not received their promotion and that they deserve the promotion, that their case will be reviewed too,” he said.

However, AFC’s Patterson explained that the Constitution makes provision for a Police Service Commission to promote senior officers and the Police Act also provides for ranks below that to be promoted by the Commissioner of Police and not the president or vice president.

Patterson posited that among the arms of the government, the police are most prone to executive control, and “the PPP’s method through the instrumentality of its Vice President, is now to acquire complete control over the police.”

The former minister under A Partnership for National Unity and the AFC coalition said that, “Guyana’s policing presently is being set back into a state of political partisanship and PPP gendarmerie, with a purpose to subjugate rather than to serve the population. Professionalism is completely being abandoned for partisanship.”

The AFC has committed to utilizing oil funds available now to substantially increase the base salaries of the rank and file of the GPF. However, the party has said that those who merit promotions to higher levels must receive the said promotions through, meritocratic arrangement, which was provided for in the Russel Coombes report on “How to improve the Human Resources of GPF”.

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• AFC, buy votes, David Patterson, Government, Jagdeo, police, promotions

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