January 8, 2019 – Prime Minister, Dr. the Right Honourable Keith Mitchell says there’s nothing amiss with the re-assignment of Permanent Secretaries or any other public officers.

Responding to a question on Monday’s Beyond the Headlines programme on the Grenada Broadcasting Network, Dr. Mitchell said Ministers of Government are also re-assigned from time to time, and he too, has changed portfolios.

The question spoke specifically to what was reported in the news as the planned re-assignment of the Acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Mr. Findley Jeffrey and linking this to matters relating to the industrial action taken by teachers last year and the resulting salary deductions made by Government.

Setting the record straight, the Prime Minister said the Public Service Commission is the body responsible for moving or re-assigning public officers and he is unaware that any such confirmation has been provided by that body at the time.

He added, “Recommendations are made continuously to move Permanent Secretaries and other public servants from one Ministry to the next. Almost every Permanent Secretary or public servant in various sections of the service has been moved at some time in their period of service. Movement from one area of service to another, as long as you are not demoted, is a normal thing.”

Dr. Mitchell further stated that there could be several moves on the horizon based on his communication with the Cabinet Secretary. “The Cabinet Secretary informed me that she communicated officially with a number of Permanent Secretaries, eleven of them, about different areas. I don’t know that any one person in the service can claim to be victimised when eleven persons may be moved.”

Dismissing claims of possible victimisation, the Prime Minister said, “No one is married to an area of the public service. The Public Service Commission has a responsibility to manage the public service. They can take decisions to give support to that philosophy and that can happen at any given time. I want to make that clear, no one is married to a position in the public service.”

The leadership of the public service, the Cabinet Secretary can make recommendations to the Public Service Commission, for the movement of public servants as enshrined in the Grenada Constitution.

Meanwhile, Attorney-at-law Mr. Darshan Ramdhani is Grenada’s new Attorney General.

Mr. Ramdhani was sworn in by Governor General, Dame Cecile La Grenade on Tuesday.

He replaces Legal Affairs Minister, Honourable Kindra Mathurine-Stewart who has been acting in the position since former Attorney General, Sir Lawrence Joseph demitted office last year.

As Attorney General, Mr. Ramdhani is the principal legal advisor to the Government of Grenada.

Mr. Ramdhani has extensive experience in the legal field, having been an attorney for more than 20 years. He has served as a judge in several regional territories including St. Kitts, St. Lucia, Antigua, British Virgin Islands and Anguilla.

The new Attorney General previously served as Grenada’s Solicitor General from November 2009 to June 2013 and Senior Crown Counsel from January 2003 to June 2007. He also served as the Acting Director of Public Prosecution for various two-month periods between 2006 and 2007.

Mr. Ramdhani is admitted to practice law in Grenada, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and the state of New York in the USA.