Defence Diplomacy Unit soon; jobs for retirees of the Disciplined Services – Pres. Ali

A unit with a core focus on defence diplomacy is being set up within the Office of the President and will be launched soon.

According to President Dr. Irfaan Ali, a main part of his administration’s foreign policy objectives is in pursuit of the peaceful employment of defence resources and capabilities.

He offered the comments while speaking at the Guyana Police Force Annual Officers’ Conference on Thursday.

The Head of State recognised that the leadership across the disciplined services is staffed with well-experienced and capable Guyanese who go off into retirement at the “ripe age of 55.”

“…At their prime when they would have acquired all their experience and hold masters and PhDs…but we lose them,” Dr. Ali said.

To this end, he said his administration is designing a model to utilise the expertise of these retirees in the promotion of national development.

“When you leave as officers, your time does not come to an end.

“In the new Guyana, we are looking at every officer and their life beyond the force,” Dr. Ali added.

He said the selection of people for continuity of service will be based on a number of things but emphasised it will be driven by their performance, fuelled by their professionalism and focused on their delivery.

“If you want to play a role in the future, then you must continuously exhibit what I just spoke of.

“Do that and you yourself have to remain relevant. We are building a system that rewards this,” Dr. Ali explained.

He called it strategic positioning rather than strategic planning.