BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – FOLLOWING Prime Minister Dr. Denzil Douglas’ announcement that the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force and the St. Kitts-Nevis Defence Force would no longer be under the purview of the Hon. Sam Condor, Parliamentary Representative of Constituency Number Five, Hon Shawn Richards is of the view that the decision seems to be unusually senseless and erratic.
“Every Prime Minister has the authority to change his cabinet, especially when he is dissatisfied with ministers. However, the Prime Minister’s decision announced yesterday to strip former National Security Minister Hon. Sam Condor of responsibility of the Defence and the Police Force, while praising him lavishly, seems to be unusually senseless and capricious, even for our Prime Minister.”
Yesterday (Aug. 31), PM Douglas, in an address to the nation, announced that he was assuming responsibility for the Police and Defence Forces and that the buck stops with him in the resolution of the escalating crime situation in the Federation.
He noted that the number of murders committed over the past eight months has surpassed that for last year and “this situation has been very distressing to me and has been dominating my attention and thought processes on an ongoing basis”.
Dr. Douglas explained that his Deputy had been working assiduously to combat crime and he is certain that many of the initiatives introduced by him as the Minister of National Security would bear fruit over time.
“However, I believe that crime in our country has reached the stage where the people of St. Kitts and Nevis must be able to definitively and unequivocally hold its Prime Minister responsible for its resolution over a reasonable period of time. We cannot continue to pass blame from one person to another, and to randomly pick and choose the persons and entities on which we would wish to lay blame,” Dr. Douglas added.
Dr. Douglas also informed the nation that in an attempt to bolster existing crime-fighting initiatives, he would be heading a Ministerial Task Force and a Special Anti-Crime Unit would be established and it would fall under his purview.
Richards has however condemned the PM’s decision and noted that he is not confident that the changes would strengthen the Federation’s ability to meet the tough challenges it now faces with respect to crime.
“In essence,” he added, “the Deputy Prime Minister was left with a greatly reduced ministry, and the responsibility of the Prime Minister was literally trebled.”
The Parliamentarian noted Dr. Douglas had admitted that he has a troubled Ministry of Finance to cope with and is so unequal to the task that he needs the IMF’s assistance.
“He has now added these two large areas of responsibility to his burdens. This, coupled with his spectacular failure when he held the responsibility of National Security prior, utterly defies logic and further retards any progress in this area,” Richards said.
Noting Dr. Douglas’ absence during the six-day period when five men were killed, Richards said, “While the recent spate of murders was taking place, the Prime Minister was on vacation abroad and refused to return despite numerous calls for him to do so. The Prime Minister’s cool response to the surge in homicide recently would naturally lead one to suspect that he has not developed any more skills in the area of national security than he possessed formerly.”
Richards pointed out a number of positives embraced by Minister Condor, noting that he was piloting the Gang (Prohibition and Prevention) Bill through the national Assembly, formally welcomed the new Commissioner of Police and was instrumental in developing several policies in response to the current crime situation.
“Now,” he stressed, “we are confronted with an abrupt change of minister, and the Deputy Prime Minister has very little real work to do on a daily basis. There is no stability in the area of national security and this will only further undermine the efforts of the constabulary.”
Richards claimed that the unexplained reassignment of Minister Condor diminishes him without significantly addressing any of the pertinent issues that has been plaguing the exercise of crime solving in St. Kitts-Nevis; one of which is the high incidence of political interference.
“This is especially poignant in light of the fact that the Minister and the Permanent Secretary have been wrangling publicly and the Minister was widely believed to be dissatisfied with her performance,” he said.
Addressing the formulation of a Ministerial Task Force, Richards stated that no member of the opposition or the Non-Government Organisations are included and that it is just another avenue for the government to interfere with the running of the Police Force.
“The Ministerial Task Force which you [Dr. Douglas] announced to fight crime is just another avenue through which the Police Force can be interfered with by a group of governing politicians. Within that Task Force there is no member of the opposition, there is no member of the NGOs and notably there is no member representing the youth of this nation. The make-up of the Task Force is short sighted as the problems of crime come mainly from the youth and that voice is needed.
“Therefore, I would highly or strongly suggest that the Task Force be expanded to include a member from the Opposition, a representative from the NGOs, a representative from the Police and another from the Defence Force, as well as Customs and lastly, but by no means least, a young person representing the youth. This would endear more confidence in the Task Force and it will also enable much more varying and creative ideas in dealing with our crime situation.”
He noted that coming on the heels of the Minister Condor giving up his party’s position at the Labour Party’s last conference, “it really begs the question if the Prime Minister is looking out for the national interest of St. Kitts-Nevis, or if this reshuffling and announcement of new committees is a political exercise rather than an exercise in good governance”.
