SANTOKHI-Biography

 

Chandrikapersad Santokhi was born on the 3rd of February 1959 in the District of Suriname in the Republic of Suriname.

In 1978, at the age of 19, he enrolled in the Dutch Police Academy in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands. After graduating from the Police Academy in 1982 he joined the Surinamese Police Force, where he served in various positions, capacities and ranks with loyalty, integrity and dedication. During his 27 years of service, he participated in more than 100 regional and international conferences, meetings, training programs and events. 

Mr. Santokhi has been the Principal Representative of Suriname for the Inter-American Drug Commission, CICAD, since 1995 and has participated regularly in CICAD meetings.

In 2005 he left the Police Force to accept the post of Minister of Justice and Police of the Republic of Suriname. At the time of his departure from the Police Force, he was Head of the Judicial Department in the rank of Police Commissioner charged with the coordination of international police force cooperation.

Mr. Santokhi held the office of Minister of Justice and Police of the Republic of Suriname until the 12th of August 2010, which duty he performed with dedication and integrity. His approach in formulating and implementing policy within the Ministry of Justice and Police is based on the idea of chain management, which states that any chain is as strong as its weakest link. Therefore, all partners within the Judicial system are addressed and equipped equally, making each link as strong as the other, so that Justice may be served optimally for all in a timely manner by the strong chain which is the Ministry of Justice and Police. The President of the Republic of Suriname honored Mr. Santokhi in July 2010 with the State decoration of “Great Officer of the Yellow Star”

From 1997-2008 Mr. Santokhi was member of Rotary Club Paramaribo. As Rotarian he was privileged to serve in various capacities within the organization. From 2005 -2006 he served as President of Rotary Club Paramaribo. Mr. Santokhi received the Paul Harris Award of Rotary International in July 2006. 

In May 2010 he was elected as Member of Parliament for the VHP political party. In July 2010 he was nominated as candidate for the presidency of the Republic of Suriname. 

Mr. Santokhi has remained the Principal Representative of Suriname for CICAD up to the present. In November 2009 he was elected as Vice Chair of CICAD, in which position he has made a valuable contribution to CICAD’s operations, and in 2010 he was elected as Chair of CICAD.

Onderscheidingen

The President of the Republic of Suriname honored Mr. Santokhi in July 2010 with the State decoration of “Great Officer of the Yellow Star” and he received the Paul Harris Award of Rotary International in July 2006.

"zelf sterk, samen sterker"
"werk hard, oprecht en doe je best, God doet de rest"
" probeer niet beter te zijn dan een ander, maar probeer beter te zijn dan je zelf"

 

In the capacity of Minister of Justice and Police he regularly attended the REMJA Meetings, CICAD Meetings, the Meeting of Ministers of National Security in the Caribbean, the Legal Affairs Committee of the CARICOM, the Tripartite Meetings between Suriname, Aruba and Netherlands Antilles, etc. And recently attend the Regional summit on Drugs trafficking and Firearms trafficking and Security in Cartagena, Colombia.

AS Parliament member he attended from 2010 till 2013 the WTO Conference in Geneve, The IPU Conference in Switzerland, the Parlatino security Conference in Columbia and Ecuador.

From 2012-2013 he was selected by the Organization of American States as an expert to design scenario’s for future drugs policy for the political leaders of the Western Hemisphere.