Latest update September 17th, 2026 10:25 AM
Another bloody scar on a bloodied nation
Strange things are happening. First there was a mysterious invasion of the Kaieteur News server which caused a threatening text message to be sent to the phone of the Minister of Agriculture. Then it was discovered that all the entries for that particular day on the server had vanished.
It is obvious that there was a major security breach of the computer system at the Kaieteur News and I hope that the management take steps to have this breached sealed because it could mean that when we are doing our work here at this newspaper and nailing the scoops, there could be pirates logging into our system and stealing our information.
I urge the management of the Kaieteur News to carry out a forensic audit of its system to determine just where the penetration took place and to take steps to ensure that the server is secure from hackers. I also urge them to issue a comprehensive statement on the matter since there are forces out there who are trying to make capital out of what seems to be a serious problem.
The next strange thing that happened was not as mysterious. It was pure coincidence. The Peeper picked up yesterday’s edition to find that the Leader of the Opposition was reading his (Peeper’s) thoughts.
Yes, the very thing that the Leader of the Opposition called for was the very thing that the Peeper had in mind. I support this call by the Leader of the Opposition for an independent investigation into Guyana’s third mass massacre in less than six months.
I support it because this is the best course of action to settle any doubts about what took place with those miners.
Guyana is a badly divided society and this spawns a great deal of Doubting Thomases. There are some people out there despite members of Fine Man’s gang being caught, despite a diary being recovered which is said to provide incontrovertible evidence of his involvement in the Lusignan and Bartica masscres; despite the fact that weapons taken from the Bartica incident were found at the camp where the gang was hiding out; despite confession statements from one of the men found, there still continues to be Guyanese who do not wish to accept that it is the Buxton-based gang that carried out these atrocities.
Similarly, there are persons out there who have all manner of theories about the slaughter of the miners, yet another bloody scar on an already bloodied nation.
No matter what the Joint Services say, there are persons out there who are going to have contrary opinions about just what took place, especially considering the location where the dead miners were found.
I recall when Walter Rodney died and despite the clear evidence that emerged days later, the then government, recognizing that Guyana would face an international scandal, quickly sent for a forensic expert.
I think it is important that the Guyana Government immediately does the same.
Not a day should be wasted in bringing this expert to Guyana because a critical issue that will arise in examining the circumstances under which these miners met their deaths would be the time when they were killed.
Were they killed days ago, or weeks ago? Were they shot before they were burnt? A forensic pathologist is needed to unravel this mystery.
The second expert that should be sent for is a ballistic expert. Now the Peeper believes there is local capability in this area, but given the skepticism out there over the police’s regular ballistic findings which point to some weapon being used, I think it would be better in this case and in the interest of satisfying the public if a foreign ballistic expert is brought to link the warheads recovered from the body to some particular gun used.
These things should be done immediately. Guyana faces a serious situation at the moment. On the one hand the security forces have made serious inroads into dismantling a gang believed to be behind an almost five-year reign of terror.
On the other hand, conspiracy theories are abounding about who is responsible for the deaths of the miners and whether this latest massacre was the handy work of a gang running from the law, or whether it was the work of robbers or whether there was some mistake made.
The best way to settle this matter is as suggested by the Leader of the Opposition: an independent investigation. Let us start the process by having an international forensic pathologist and an international ballistic expert.
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