Who’s Chester’s Political Boss?

Who exactly is the Commissioner of Police’s political boss? That was the million-dollar question posed to the Minister of Home Affairs earlier today, hinting that ComPol Williams might only be answerable to Prime Minister John Briceño. Here’s how Kareem Musa and Commissioner Williams responded to that intriguing query.

 

Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs

“My point is that you make it seem as though whenever the commissioner speaks or whenever he makes a decision, he has to call myself or the prime minister which he does not.  And so, you have to remove that blurred line, because there has to be a clear line, and not politicize the role of the Commissioner of Police which, I think, that is what you’re trying to do.  But at the end of the day, we work well, both myself and the commissioner and the prime minister and the commissioner.  So, to say he’s answerable to any of us, I think that’s poorly phrased.”

 

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police

“I don’t know where you get the notion from that I do not want to answer to Kareem [Musa] because that is not true.  Myself and Minister Musa have a very, very good working relationship.  There’s absolutely no issue.  I can say it in front of his face and behind his back, he is one of the best ministers I’ve worked with.  Peyrefitte was good too.  I will give that to Peyrefitte because the truth is, if I were to be told by another minister to do certain things that I believe is wrong, if I go to Peyrefitte, he would say, “ComPol, if you don’t feel it’s right, don’t do it.”  And Kareem is just like that.  So I will say to you that we have that respect for each other and the cordial relationship, in terms of how we work.”