The Alliance For Change (AFC) has accused Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo of gross interference in the operations of the Guyana Police Force (GPF), alleging that his recent assurances of mass promotions to officers amount to political manipulation.
In a statement on Friday, August 8, 2025, the AFC said Jagdeo’s pledge to ensure that some 800 officers who were overlooked for promotion — as well as others still dissatisfied — will be promoted, represents an alarming breach of the constitutional process.
“Among the arms of government, the police are the most prone to executive control. And the People’s Progressive Party’s (PPP) method, through the instrumentality of its Vice President, is now to acquire complete control over the Police,” the AFC charged. The party warned that Guyana’s policing is being dragged back into “a state of political partisanship and PPP gendarmerie,” prioritising subjugation over service.
The AFC stressed that the Constitution vests the authority to promote senior officers in the Police Service Commission, while the Police Act gives the Commissioner of Police the mandate to promote lower ranks. “Not for the Vice President to promote any category!” the statement declared.
The party also accused Jagdeo of seeking to curry favour with the GPF ahead of elections, noting that Parliament has already been dissolved and the government is in caretaker mode. “From all accounts, the PPP Government and the V.P. shamelessly want to buy the 3,000 or so police votes by this en masse promotion,” the AFC said, warning that such actions would undermine meritocracy within the Force.
Referring to Jagdeo’s recent appearance in Vice News — where journalist Isobel Yeung, who was just honoured for her investigative work on corruption in Guyana, questioned him on governance issues — the AFC suggested the promotions were a political distraction.
The AFC reiterated its commitment to increasing base salaries for rank-and-file officers, using oil revenues, while insisting that promotions must be merit-based as recommended in the Russell Coombes report on strengthening GPF human resources.
