Basseterre, St. Kitts, February 16, 2017 (SKNIS): Prime Minister Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris, said that the fact that his government has governed justly is an extremely important achievement since assuming office in February 2015, adding that the Team Unity Administration has not performed any acts of victimization as it is being rumored by many.
Prime Minister Harris made the remarks while appearing on “Working for You”, on Wednesday, February 15, jointly with Deputy Prime Minister, the Honourable Shawn Richards and Premier of Nevis and Senior Minister in the Federal Government, the Honourable Vance Amory.
“I want to make that an important achievement of this government that we have held true to the promise we made that we will not engage in political victimization. We have held true to that and any other claim to the contrary is fake news. It is an effort at being mischievous and I challenge them to [name] those persons who have been victimized,” said Prime Minister Harris, while making reference to the ambassadors who served the federation in their respective fields. “So when we say that all ambassadors should resign and allow the government a free hand, that is not victimization, that is how the system ought to work and it has worked so everywhere. There are positions well accepted in the functioning of government that are by their nature political. Whosoever carries them like the ambassadors, know largely that once government changes there are certain expectations that flow naturally.”
Dr. Harris made mention of the fact that the former governor general, as well as a number of senior officials was allowed to work under the new administration. He noted that the only request that was made of them was for them to give equal and loyal service to the government and the government’s agenda since they are still civil servants.
“So the permanent secretary, for example, in the ministry of education for a while was the same one that we met there. We have the financial secretary that we inherited from the former regime and she has been doing her work diligently to the best that we can determine and she continues to serve in that capacity,” said the prime minister. “We have the chief personnel officer and if we are talking about victimization we should go there. The chief personnel officer is the same person that was left by the last regime. It is she who advises the government with regards to personnel matters and we hope that the same competent advice that she is giving to us she had given to the administration of the past.”
Prime Minister Harris said that the claim for victimization by those who continuously do so cannot be supported by facts and added the government will continue along the path of good governance and accountability to the people.
