Kwame McCoy should be banished from public institutions - Ramjattan

Kwame McCoy should be banished from public institutions – Ramjattan

Sep 23, 2009 News

Chairman of the Alliance For Change, Khemraj Ramjattan, says that his party unreservedly condemns the actions of Kwame McCoy. Mr Ramjattan said that he has heard the taped recording and is convinced that one of the speakers is McCoy.

Chairman of the Alliance For Change, Khemraj Ramjattan

According to Ramjattan, the fact that McCoy was appointed to the Rights of the Child Commission, in spite of widespread disapproval, represents the moral bankruptcy of the Bharrat Jagdeo Administration.

He noted that when McCoy was first named to be a member of the Rights of the Child Commission there was staunch protest, not because of his perceived sexual preference, but that he did not fit the criterion that was set out among the guidelines for eligibility of the commissioners.

According to Ramjattan, the President should have brainstormed with people of good moral standing and character before having McCoy placed on that commission. “The President doesn’t listen to people.”

Ramjattan said that in light of what is currently transpiring, McCoy should resign from his position on the Rights of the Child Commission, the Office of the President, the Youth Parliament and any other public office that he holds.

Ever since the taped conversation featuring a 15-year-old male named Julius and a voice many believe belonged to McCoy, surfaced, many have called for his resignation from the Rights of a Child Commission.

McCoy is a nominee of the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security and that subject Minister Priya Manickchand has reserved any comment on the issue pending a verification of the voices.

According to Manickchand she has spoken to McCoy on the issue and he has denied that it is his voice on the recording.

Meanwhile, McCoy has lodged a formal complaint with the police who are currently investigating the incident.

Some members of the Rights of the Child Commission are of the opinion that should the recently surfaced tape recording between someone identified as Kwame McCoy and a 15-year-old named Julius turn out to be authentic, then McCoy should recuse himself from the Commission forthwith.

According to one Commissioner, who spoke to this newspaper on the condition of anonymity, should the recording prove to be that of McCoy then he is an embarrassment to that body, which will be responsible for formulating ways and means of protecting children.

The Commissioner stressed that this individual’s alleged sexual preference to young boys would be contrary to what the commission is all about.

The recording was made on September 9 after the 15-year-old boy had complained to his relatives about what he said was Kwame McCoy’s sexual advances towards him.

The relatives, in turn, sought help outside the family, hence the recording.

According to telephone records, the phone call was made on September 9 from 226-1832 to 223-7502, a direct line to McCoy at Office of the President.

The call started at 16:54:03 hrs and lasted for 20 billable minutes.

On Sunday last, reporters listened in on a conversation between the 15-year-old (born August, 18, 1994) and his mother. They heard him admit that it was indeed his voice on the recording.

According to Julius, he met McCoy at the International Conference Centre, Liliendaal, and he had told him that he wanted to open a youth group in Linden. Julius said that he collected McCoy’s phone number and from then they started having conversations.

The boy told his mother that at one time he had told McCoy that he was traveling to Georgetown and that he would be staying by his aunt. He said that McCoy suggested that his friend owned a hotel and that he could stay there and not worry about any payments.

This fact came out in the recorded conversation. The hotel was not named.

The youth stated that he called McCoy at his office in the Presidential Complex and when his mother asked how he knew which number to call, the youth said that McCoy had called him from it several times before.

The youth told his mother that McCoy had given him money on more than one occasion. He said that McCoy also gave him a cellular phone.