Eight months after the launch of the National Peace Programme, its director Akil Daley has been removed.
Sources told the DAILY NATION he was given his walking papers last week.
When contacted about this development, Corey Lane, Minister of State in the Attorney General’s Office with responsibility for Crime Prevention and who conceptualised the programme, said Daley, who was the face of the unconventional programme aimed at saving at-risk youth, was no longer involved and had been assigned to another ministry.
“I can confirm he is not with the programme anymore; he is with People Empowerment ministry. He brought a lot of energy to the programme as Barbados could see. I believe part of the thinking is to put some energy in other programmes, so he was promoted to another programme,” Lane said while admitting that there were “rumours and whispers” concerning Daley’s departure.
Sources said there were concerns about comments Daley made two weeks ago when he called into Starcom Network’s radio programme Down To Brass Tacks to speak about the programme; and also a widely circulated voice note where comments were made about the Attorney General’s Office under which the National Peace Programme falls.
Lane said he was aware of both situations but did not link them to Daley’s departure.
“I don’t know if it is the public service modus operandi but I have observed sometimes you have people who are sometimes seen as problematic or have certain issues and are promoted out of the way. I see it across the public service. People have problems, you can’t demote them but you promote them.”
He disclosed that he had spoken to Daley, a community activist and former vice-president of the Young Socialists, about the need to transition “into the type of director that can manoeuvre the public service because he is not from the public service. After not manoeuvring for a number of months, I said to him that I would need to find a director even if he remains in the programme at the same level assisting with responsibilities”.
The minister said he had already identified a suitable replacement from within the public service.
He lauded Daley for the work he did, particularly with a decrease in the homicide rate.
“The (former) director was working on projects with me – on the direct intervention programme that sought to bring homicides down by half in the next three years. I am not going to get into the numbers but you can check with the police. I think we had 43 homicides last year and there have been about 18 so far for the year.”