Senior Cop Gets $70K Annually to Be Advisor to CEO

A senior police officer, Aaron Guzman, is set to earn seventy thousand dollars a year, plus a government vehicle, for serving as an advisor to the C.E.O. of the Ministry of Home Affairs. The deal is raising eyebrows, especially as public scrutiny over government spending grows louder. Critics are asking: Is this a smart use of taxpayer money, or just another example of questionable government contracts? But Minister of Home Affairs Kareem Musa says there’s nothing unusual here. According to him, these kinds of contracts are standard practice across ministries.

 

Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs

“It is not anything new. These government contracts exist in all ministries. Obviously the CEO comes from an administrative background, not a policing background. So having the type of advice and council from a senior like Aaron Guzman has been very valuable to the ministry and valuable to the CEO in the conduct of her duties.”

 

Still, the question remains: Should taxpayers be footing the bill for this kind of advisory role? And if it’s so common, should there be more transparency about how these contracts are awarded and evaluated?