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Jun 15, 2009 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon
The Government of Guyana has had the misfortune of introducing wire-tapping legislation at a time when the wire-tapping process in the US, could very well spell the end of the PPP Government. Of course that depends on a lot of factors, including the astuteness of the PNC’s politics. Right now the PNC cannot sink any deeper in the sea of mediocrity that it is currently swimming in. It is patently, irritatingly and foolishly short-sighted for the PNC to call on Dr. Leslie Ramsammy to resign, because there may be evidential material in the Roger Khan/ Robert Simels intrigues in the US to link Dr. Ramsammy in a conspiratorial relationship with Roger Khan. Why Ramsammy? In the scheme of things, he is a small player if you accept that Khan had ongoing ties to certain powerful politicians before he was arrested by the DEA.
Before we look at the angle of PNC mediocrity, a word should be said of the future of wire-tapping in Guyana. Wire-tapping is the American name for national security agents and police personnel listening in to conversations of people that state security are tracking down. How the evidence is gathered is very simple. You have John Jones under surveillance. On his phone, he is recorded as saying; “If the police question you, there will be an alibi to get you off because the Manager of Airphone Company will swear that you were with him at the time you shot Paul.” Immediately you know that the Manager of Airphone Company is involved in criminal activities.
We come now to Leslie Ramsammy. Wire-tapping of Robert Simels has shown that a person involved with Roger Khan, named the Health Minister as an associate of Khan. Ramsammy can deny it, but that is the way wire-tapping operates. What will bring the process into disrepute in Guyana is when the police force goes after people based on taped conversation, but at the same time ignores the information the DEA got from its surveillance of Simels. Mr. Simels appears to have put the Guyana Government in a position where it may not survive. A search on Mr. Simels laptop reveals that Dr. Ramsammy may be a key figure in a conspiracy with Khan in Guyana. Again, Ramsammy has proclaimed his innocence. But why should anyone believe him after doing logical deduction.
There are more than fifteen Cabinet Ministers, plus scores of highly placed police and military officers. Why would Simels name the Minister of Health as someone who interfaced with Khan, procured the spy equipment for Khan and trained him in the use of the item? This makes no sense and logical deduction should lead one to reject Minister Ramsammy’s position. The question all Guyanese should ask themselves is why Simels has identified the Minister of Heath and not the Minister of Home Affairs or the Minister of Defence or the Army Chief or the Police Commissioner or the Head of the Presidential Secretariat (HPS). All these people have portfolios that include security details. The Minister of Heath does not. Let us assume that Simels wants to hurt the Government’s credibility and he is making up tall stories. To make his fiction plausible, he would have cited the Minister of Home Affairs or the President or the HPS. Why Ramsammy?
We come now to the PNC. In pursuing Dr. Ramsammy, the PNC is obfuscating the real actors and are leading their supporters and Guyanese people into an arid pathway. No word is more appropriate than “stupid.” It is stupid to insist on the removal of Ramsammy, when most political observers know that Dr. Ramsammy is not a key player inside the PPP and he would not arrogate to himself that kind of enormity of authority that Simels implies he has. This just does not make sense. The Government and the PPP can deliver a victory blow to the PNC by declaring Ramsammy’s portfolio vacant. What then will the PNC do?
Both the PNC and AFC are playing childish politics that will cause them to lose face because they are confusing personality with policy. The speculation should lead one to think that Dr. Ramsammy may have been one small player in a complex web of relationships in which orders were given to subordinates to carry out. Why focus on the watchman who was told to pick the lock so the door can be opened, rather than on the people who planed the invasion of the building in the first place. We are waiting for the PNC and AFC to go beyond Ramsammy and tell us who they think were the persons pulling Ramsammy’s string.
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