By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Chief Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

MINISTER of National Security Marvin Dames yesterday revealed former Commissioner of Police Ellison Greenslade expressed a desire to demit office in a private meeting with him shortly after the general election.

Mr Dames shared the anecdote in the House of Assembly during his contribution to debate on the Pensions (Amendment) Bill 2017, providing new details on the circumstances surrounding the police chief’s controversial resignation.

After months of speculation he was being forced out of the post, Mr Greenslade emphatically denied rumours at a handing over ceremony last month and told reporters the time had come for him to move on.

“It was very early on following one of our weekly briefings,” Mr Dames said, “that meeting being between minister and police commissioner, that Mr Greenslade said to me and I am paraphrasing, ‘I recall when you were serving as my deputy commissioner and you came into my office and told me that your time had come and you were tendering your resignation and moving on. I did not understand at the time why you had come to that decision.’

Mr Dames continued: “Mr Greenslade went on to say, ‘That is until now. I find myself at the same place and feel that the time has come for me to move on’.”

The amendment bill will grant a full pension to someone who has served a minimum period of 25 years, and at least seven of those years as the commissioner of police or the commander of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force.

Mr Greenslade’s tenure was a key highlight in MPs’ contributions on the bill because the changes will ensure he receives maximum pension benefits.

Although Mr Greenslade served in the force for fewer than 40 years and as commissioner for fewer than ten years, Attorney General Carl Bethel told The Tribune last month the Minnis administration planned to amend the Pension Act in a way that would allow him to receive maximum pension.

Yesterday, Mr Dames underscored the importance of term limits, and flagged the government’s plan to introduce a “succession planning model” for the public service. He said senior public servants were often kept in top positions for so long that it blocks opportunity for other qualified and competent individuals to make significant contributions.

He noted past extensions given to senior public officers on the verge of retirement, and instances when retired officials were called back to serve in high-level posts.

Mr Dames called the phenomenon a “stumbling block to advancement” and a contributing factor to the country’s brain drain.

Mr Dames said the police force was very close to completing its “manpower audit,” and preliminary findings have confirmed an oversubscription of senior ranks.

He explained if the status quo is maintained, there will be no vacancies or upward mobility over the next five years, and asked parliamentarians to consider the impact on productivity and morale.

“Sometimes we become too insecure, possessive, and at times even obsessed over positions when we ascend to them,” said Mr Dames, prefacing that it was a general statement.

“Somewhere along the line, we make the mistake and think that the organisation belongs to us and nobody else. When persons remain in top positions for too long, they run the risk of becoming complacent and begin to lose the true purpose which is the advancement of the organisation and not themselves.

“But when it’s time to go, it’s time to go!” he added.