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…MP rejects claims that he walked out disciplinary hearing
The Public Service Appellate Tribunal has set Tuesday, March 30, for the preliminary hearing of an appeal filed by Opposition Member of Parliament, Ganesh Mahipaul, challenging his dismissal from the Public Service.
The A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) Parliamentarian, who served as a Community Development Officer under the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development, filed his appeal on March 22, 2021 on the grounds he was dismissed without reason and his constitutional rights breached.
“…the dismissal was in contravention of Article 38 G (3) of the Constitution of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana which provides that no public officer shall be the subject of sanctions of any kind without due process and since the principles of natural justice were not applied in that the Appellant was not given a fair hearing,” Mahipaul said as he laid down the grounds for which he appealed his dismissal.
The dismissal letter, dated March 5, 2021, was expected to take effect on May 8, 2021, however, after Mahipaul filed his appeal, he was subsequently informed that his dismissal was with effect from March 8.
Months ahead of his dismissal, the Local Government Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Prema Ramanah Roopnarine, in a letter dated November 3, 2020, laid four charges – violation of an oath or affirmation of office, two counts of absent from duty without leave or adequate excuse, and divulging official information of a secret or confidential nature where the duties do not require a public servant to do so – before Mahipaul. However, Mahipaul has maintained that the charges were politically motivated and were baseless and without merit.
The Public Service Commission had established a Disciplinary Tribunal Committee but the hearing was reportedly aborted.
In a letter dated March 22, Chairman of the Public Service Commission, Michael Somersall said that while Mahipaul attended the hearing conducted by the Disciplinary Tribunal, he refused to participate.
“He attended the hearing but refused to participate; he asked questions of the tribunal and being dissatisfied with the responses walked out of the hearing,” Somersall said.
He said the report of the Tribunal was nonetheless prepared and submitted to the Commission. “The Commission convened a meeting at which the report was thoroughly reviewed and passionately deliberated on, and consequently by a majority decided that Mr Mahipaul should be dismissed. Hence, there can be no denying that the principles of natural [justice] were not applied to Mr Mahipaul’s case,” the Commission Chairman said.
But Mahipaul told Village Voice News that the Commission must now provide the evidence to support the claim that he “walked out” of the hearing conducted by the disciplinary tribunal.
“I would like Mr Somersall, since he said that I walked out of the disciplinary tribunal hearing, I would like him to provide that video evidence that shows Ganesh Mahipaul walking out of the disciplinary tribunal hearing. I never walked out of the hearing,” he said.
The dismissed public servant said he requested a copy of the video recording of the Disciplinary Tribunal hearing but it was never made available.
“Section 71 (d) of the Public Service Commission rules states that a true record of the proceedings and evidence at the hearing of the case except the report of the disciplinary tribunal shall be made and a copy of such record shall be given to the Officer if he desires to make application for a review by the Commission,” Mahipaul pointed out, while noting that he is still awaiting a copy of the video recording.
According to him, the hearing was aborted after the three-member tribunal failed to produce the instrument of appointment. He said the Chairman of the Tribunal Naeem Khan at the time had indicated that he would have made contact with him on the way forward.
Mahipaul was accused of causing himself to be named as a candidate on the APNU+AFC List of Candidates for the 2020 General Elections, when such constitutes a breach and violation of his oath of office to be impartial.
But Mahipaul, while denying all four charges, said he took no such oath. “First of all, I [have] never signed an oath of office; I was never presented with such,” he had said in an earlier interview.
But that aside, Mahipaul said the charge amounts to a breach of his constitutional right as a citizen of Guyana, as he referenced to Article 147 (1) of the Constitution of Guyana.
“So clearly the constitution gives me that right to be affiliated with a political party, and to claim that I put my name on a List of Candidates in violation of some oath of office, which I have never seen, I think is out of order, and it violates my constitutional right as a Guyanese to associate with a political party,” Mahipaul contended.
Another charge, alleges that he “leaked” of state “secrets.” It is alleged that on August 10, 2020, Mahipaul published confidential information of the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development on his Facebook page.
“The information being services provided by Design Unlimited for the production of business cards, compliment slips and design and installation of a sign board for the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development,” the Permanent Secretary explained, while claiming that Mahipaul breached the Public Service Rules. But Mahipaul, in arguing that there is no breach, described the charge as “frivolous.”
