Debacle exposed personal feuding, breaches in protocol Reshmi Usha Ramnarine's meteoric rise overnight from a technical operator 1 in the Security Intelligence Agency (SIA) to acting chief of Telecom Technology, Ministry of National Security, and then to a key national position in the director's chair of the Strategic Services Agency (SSA), has elements of partisan considerations, personal feuding and exchange of hostilities between deputy security chiefs and personal friendships between political bosses and their advisers.
The debacle has exposed the backroom machinations to put an unsuitable candidate in the director's chair of a national spy agency. It has also exposed a range of security failures and breaches in protocol and raises important questions about why National Security Minister Brigadier John Sandy failed to submit a nominee of his own choice and why, having objected to Ramnarine's suitability for the post at the National Security Council (NSC) meeting, he would present Cabinet Note 92 for her appointment.
Curiouser still is why Deputy Director, SSA, Julie Browne, who played a crucial role in getting Ramnarine parachuted into the director's chair, would write a glowing letter of recommendation for her subordinate's elevation to the boss's chair to Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar. There has been no explanation for why Browne would make the unusual recommendation, or why to the Prime Minister and not the line Minister, Sandy, as reported in yesterday's Sunday Express.
Browne has so far failed to respond to enquiries from this newspaper about the role she played in the Ramnarine affair, including why her January 10, 2011, letter to Persad-Bissessar was addressed to: "The Honourable Mrs Kamla Persad-Bissessar, MP, Prime Minister, and Office of the Prime Minister."
The letter of recommendation for her junior employee was not sent to the Prime Minister in her capacity as chairman of the NSC, nor was it copied to anyone. No explanation either for why she overlooked the embellished work experience cited in Ramnarine's CV, failed to check references and, more critically, failed to conduct the standard vetting process required for the current clearance of someone at the level of director. The rigorous vetting process, intelligence sources have disclosed, include polygraph and psychometric tests.
As reported in yesterday's Express, one of the references listed in the controversial CV, Sharon Sharma, a senior prosecutor in the Office of the Attorney General, has denied giving Ramnarine approval to use her name as a reference.
Another named reference, Shireen Ali, a brand marketing manager at SM Jaleel and Co Ltd, is said to be a close friend of Ramnarine. Browne, who is said to have a sharply acrimonious relationship with the agency's second deputy director, Trevor Keron Ganpat, is also listed as a reference.
Timeline to the director's chair
January 10, 2011—Deputy SSA director Julie Browne makes recommendation for accelerated promotion to top job for junior officer Reshmi Usha Ramnarine. The Browne recommendation is a break from the usual practice of the line minister's choice of candidate.
January 12, 2011—National Security Minister Brig John Sandy submits Cabinet Note 92 for Cabinet's consideration for the appointment of Ramnarine as director of the SSA. This, after he had raised objections to the Browne recommendation at the National Security Council meeting attended by Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar, Attorney General Anand Ramlogan and Foreign Affairs Minister Suruj Rambachan, among others.
Sandy's objections about Ramnarine's suitability for the director's chair of the SSA were not supported by his colleagues, who all agreed to the appointment.
January 13, 2011—Cabinet agreed to an initial six-month interim appointment of Reshmi Ramnarine as SSA director. However, several Cabinet ministers appeared to be in the dark about the decision, which led Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar, under a barrage of questions from the media, to quip: "Persons who are members of the Cabinet, if they had read their Cabinet notes, it was a Cabinet decision. From National Security Council and then to the Cabinet. So if members were not at the Cabinet meeting or are not members of the Cabinet, they would not have had that information."
January 14, 2011—Acting President Sen Timothy Hamel-Smith issues Ramnarine her instrument of appointment to the director's chair of the SIA, later corrected to SSA January 21, 2011. The Express reported exclusively on Ramnarine's shock appointment to head the spy agency.
January 22, 2011—Ramnarine resigns, citing intrusive press attention and security concerns. Enquiries into her background turn up false claims of a degree in information technology and work experience.
