Former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik. AFP PHOTO

Kerik himself has pleaded guilty to accepting tens of thousands of dollars in gifts from a company that was trying to do business with New York City, but President Jagdeo is insisting that he is the point man.

"Kerik will lead the reform of the police and no one will change that," President Jagdeo said on Tuesday.

The President's critics believe that Kerik's admission of wrong doing is enough to rule him out of playing a role in the $20 million Inter-American Development Bank-funded project of reforming the police force.

Nestled between Suriname and Brazil, Guyana has had to grapple with an increase trade of illegal guns through its porous borders and now faces dismantling a growing narcotics empire.

It is hoped that the reform of the police will drastically reduce murders and gun related crimes which rose by over 30 percent in the first eight months of this year.

Kerik headed New York City's police during the turbulent period after the 9-11 attacks. President Bush picked him in 2004 to be the second head of the Department of Homeland Security.

Kerik withdrew after acknowledging that he failed to pay all of the taxes for a housekeeper who may have been in the country illegally.