Sport Minister to follow lawful process in appointing Director of Sport

A new Director of Sport will be appointed after the National Sports Commission (NSC) is fully functional, says Sport Minister Charles Ramson Jr. And the Minister intends to follow the lawful process to ensure this is done.

Speaking to media operatives on the sidelines of an event on Tuesday, Ramson Jr. said the Sports Commission has to engage with the subject Minister on the appointment.

“The hold-up is really the National Sports Commission. I’d mentioned before that the National Sports Commission had expired since August 2019. Interestingly, even though the Act is what creates the position of the Director of Sport, you would have had a renewal of a contract even in its absence, even in the fact that it was already expired. I don’t intend to break the law,” Ramson Jr. said.

“For a good period of time, five months or so, we kept emphasising the need to be compliant, so it’s not until we have that sorted and fully established can we go about the process of appointing a Director of Sport. It’s actually the National Sports Commission that makes the appointment; it’s not the Minister who makes the appointment. The National Sports Commission has to engage with the Minister, so until you’ve got a fully established National Sports Commission you’re not going to be able to have a Director of Sport.”

Guyana has been without a Director of Sport since early August when the previous Director Christopher Jones was relieved of his duties.

There have been calls in some quarters for Co-Director of the Kashif and Shanghai Organisation, Kashif Muhammad, to be appointed to the post. Muhammad has been accompanying the Minister on public engagements since he assumed office in August.