George Maxwell Richards completed his decade long tour of duty as the country’s Commander in Chief with a final walk in front of his troops in a public ceremony held around the Queen’s Park Savannah in Port of Spain yesterday.
Richards, 81, a former principal of the University of the West Indies, St Augustine campus, became the country’s fourth president on March 17, 2001.
He held the post for two five-year terms and will today be replaced by former High Court judge Anthony Carmona.
A ceremony was held in front of the Knowsley Building located along the Queen’s Park Savannah West in Port of Spain for Richards’s last day.
Around 3.50 p.m. Richards and his wife Dr Jean Ramjohn-Richards departed the President’s House and proceeded by mounted escort around the Queen’s Park Savannah to a saluting dais at the top of Dundonald Street in Port of Spain.
He arrived at the dais around 3.55 p.m.
Chief of Defence Staff Major General Kenrick Maharaj presented Richards with a parting gift of crystal horses and a framed collage of photographs.
The Defence Force then held its sunset ceremony.
Richards then made his last walk in front of his troops alongside Ramjohn-Richards and Maharaj to an instrumental version of “Auld Lang Syne”. (Trinidad Express)
Â
