THE CASE PULLED the main points in the news in recent weeks. The conflict between the supervisory board at the Telecommunications Authority Suriname (TAS) and the (former) director. On the front line, this increasingly came down to Emanuel Scheek as chairman of the commissioner against Wendy Jap-A-Joe as director of the TAS.
The council found that Jap-A-Joe always refused to provide insight into the financial operations of the TAS and Jap-A-Joe on the other hand questioned the council’s mandate. He had hired a company to investigate the authority, while Jap-A-Joe doubted whether that company was independent enough, because there was probably a connection between someone from the council and that company.
The question remains whether such a technical position as director of an authority should be through a political appointment
In any case, the dispute has been settled by the summary proceedings judge. It assessed that the employment contract with Jap A Joe was suspended and that she had to transfer the business documents. The (former) TAS director also backed out in summary proceedings brought by Jap A Joe against the RVC with the aim of clearing her name.
This case exposes a number of things: positions of directors in authorities should not be political. Because that’s basically the whole egg-eating thing that everyone is all about. The Abop led by Ronnie Brunswijk nominated Jap-A-Joe during the previous government term. Now that she has to make way, the Abop may see this as a loss of face and this should apparently be prevented as much as possible.
The fact that the council also includes Samantha Gadjradj proves that the matter is political. She is the wife of Harish Monorath, the current Minister of Justice and Security, who was also nominated by the Abop. Every accusation made to the RVC explicitly states that Gadjradj is exempt.
It was also special that the parliamentarians who sit in the National Assembly on behalf of the Abop left the room when it became clear that the council would not accept that Jap-A-Joe did not transfer. Brunswijk had previously complained that the criminalization of Abop people in director positions had to stop. It was done via his ‘right hand’ Facebook reported that there is a crisis of confidence in the coalition.
The question remains whether such a technical position as director of an authority should be through a political appointment. This goes against the nature of an authority that must be able to function independently. We could all see the result of ‘bondage’ on various media. In addition, no work was done because the staff was also affected by this situation and stayed at home. So that is a loss of income for the country.
This case has clearly established that political appointments and political cabinets are insufficiently regulated by law. Suriname must choose capable people for crucial positions. Professionals who are given clear assignments, who know that they have to prepare annual reports and that they have to manage the organization in accordance with the law. These seem simple principles, but implementation often turns out to be the biggest problem in Suriname.
