The Clerk of the National Assembly, Sherlock Isaacs, hurriedly shot down claims that the National Assembly’s mace had been stolen and admitted that it was removed from the Speaker’s office and placed in his office for safekeeping. He also said that it needed to be cleaned.

Speaker of the National Assembly, Raphael Trotman, called the Police on Friday after going into his office in the Parliament building and not being able to locate the mace.

“On entering the Speaker’s Office I discovered that the Mace, the symbol of authority of the office of Speaker of the National Assembly, was removed from its usual place without my permission, knowledge or consent. The entire protective case in which the Mace is kept is also missing in its entirety”.

According to Trotman, from time immemorial, the Mace is kept in the Speaker’s office and is only removed by the Sergeant-at-Arms for use during sittings or for temporary viewing by guests on tour of the National Assembly.

He said he was forced to call in the Police after staff members could not furnish him with a reasonable response.

But speaking to News Source, the Clerk of the National Assembly assured that the mace was safe and was never stolen. He said he decided to have it placed in his office for safe keeping and with all the wranglings over a date for the Sitting of the National Assembly, he wanted to ensure that it would be ready for that sitting whenever it comes.

He said he find it strange that a police complaint would be filed in the matter when he was never contacted or asked about its whereabouts.

Isaacs said he wanted to avoid a situation that took place years ago when the mace went missing and prevented a sitting of the National Assembly.

Filed: 1st November, 2014

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