MINISTER RAMSAMMY SHOULD RECUSE HIMSELF

Aug 03, 2009 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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I am hopeful that before this column is read that the Government of Guyana would have already initiated the action that is recommended within.
Further evidence has been led in the Courts of the United States of America which accuses the Minister of Health, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy of having purchased the spy equipment from the manufacturers. The case before which these allegations are being made is not finished; the evidence has not been tested but given this continuous string of allegations against the Minister, there is only one practical course open to the President.
He must do what former President, Desmond Hoyte, did in the eighties when one of the Ministers was accused of a sexual offence. The Minister offered to step aside and the President consented. The President of Guyana should do the same and if Minister Ramsammy does not offer to step aside then the President should ask him to do so.
The Minister has in press releases and statements to the media, consistently denied that he had any involvement with Khan. There will be a tendency given what is being reported about the case in the United States, for the public to jump to hasty conclusions. The politicians seem to have already made up their minds but one must understand that it is also natural for politicians to milk as much political capital as they can out of these allegations.
The public must not allow itself to fall into the trap of assuming that because someone had contact with Khan that this person was criminally complicit in anything illegal that Khan may have done. Guyana is a small country and it is not usual for persons to rub shoulders with others without in any way being involved in anything illegal that person may have been involved with.
There has so far been no direct allegation that the government of Guyana was itself involved in any underhand business. In the case of Minister Ramsammy, the allegations that are now surfacing accuse him of purchasing a piece of spy equipment. He is expected to also respond to this allegation. The logical thing for him to do of course is to step down as Minister of Health until all these matters are cleared up. Minister Ramsammy should be asked to be relieved of his position of Minister of Health, until such time as the authorities can clear up the allegations surrounding him.
This obviously will take time and if Ramsammy opts to step aside until the conclusion of this matter, he is not likely to return as a Minister, since by the time the allegations against him are resolved, it will take years and by that time there are going to be fresh elections in the country.
While what we have so far is untested allegations, it is an acceptable convention in these instances that the person at the center of these allegations should do the honourable thing and step aside. In this instance, the purpose is not to facilitate any impartial investigation. This is not the reason why Minister Ramsammy should step aside. The allegations are being made outside of Guyana and any evidence to establish the allegations being made against the Minister will most likely have to come from outside of Guyana. This will take time. However, the Minister should step aside for the time being as a matter of principle. No Minister should sit in office in the midst of such damaging allegations against him. It is time for the Minister of Health to step aside while making it clear that this does not imply guilt.
The President should follow this up by immediately appointing an independent inquiry to probe whether there were any official links between Khan and the government and whether such links resulted in any criminal actions.
The investigative team should comprise of persons drawn from the international community but with no links to either the US government or to the local administration. It should be headed by a renowned jurist.
While the government may insist that it has nothing to hide, it should appreciate that it is necessary now that it establishes a credible basis for the removal of all suspicion that it was unlawfully linked with Khan.
This investigation will no doubt have to consider the outcome of the court case in the United States, but it should be commissioned immediately and given the latitude of awaiting the evidence which the United States government says it will provide at the end of the trial of Khan’s defence attorney.
The PPP had traditionally when faced with the sort of crisis it now faces, and especially when it involves government Ministers, tended to close ranks. It should avoid doing so without assuming guilt. It should do the right thing and take the necessary steps to have the Minister step down and an investigation launched.

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