What does Guyana have to hide that the President is not telling nation?

Mar 07, 2011 Letters

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Dear Editor,
President Bharrat Jagdeo’s statements at the Annual Police Officers Conference on March 3, 2011 pose clear and present danger to the nation’s stability, people’s security, democratic values, fundamental rights and the rule of law
President Jagdeo’s address to the Officers Annual Conference was replete with his reign of lawlessness and contempt for the security of the people. His administration cannot be committed to crime fighting when on one hand he presides over withholding vital information and resources needed to get the job done, which continues to embolden the lawless and presents a false sense of security.
For the President to tell this nation that the resources available to the joint services are inadequate yet presides over the process that sees to the denial of said resources again brings into sharp focus his lack of commitment to crime fighting. Crime is a deterrence to development, prosperity and wellbeing.
No legitimate business will want to invest in a society when its basic security cannot be guaranteed, it feels compelled to grease the palms of some to ensure its security, or pay for basic security that the police should be providing. It also robs the citizenry of their possession, poses threats to their lives, denies free movement and peace of mind to go about one’s daily business, and feeds constant fear.
Hard earned monies are diverted to grilling homes or hiring security, some forced to migrate, and those who can do neither left to their wits ends to ensure their safety, when all are paying taxes to ensure the police serve and protect them.
Article 32 of the Guyana Constitution expressly states “It is the joint duty of the State, the society and every citizen to combat and prevent crime and other violations of the law…” Instead, the Jagdeo administration is presiding over the most lawless and insecure period in our history and preventing others from playing a national role in combating this scourge even as the Commissioner of Police reports a 9 % spike.
To his administration’s credit crime has been successfully used as a political weapon to keep this nation divided, stymie legitimate economic pursuits and foster suspicions and divisions among the ethnic groups even as the drug lords, phantom squad members and white collar criminals walk in full view, but are ignored by revenue enforcers and crime fighting authority, feeding the perception that they have the protection of officialdom. The nation has to break its silence and speak out in behalf of their rights and safety.
Reportedly the President said, “I will talk about how we messed up too, because we could have cleaned up that situation in Buxton earlier but (for a) few people, including from the Police Force, right up at the top, who had a different agenda,” yet he remains the major hindrance to bring closure to this crime spree by withholding vital information from the police.
The President is on public record saying he has in his possession a tape showing the involvement of opposition leaders with gangs in Buxton and is still to hand over this tape to the relevant authority, which is tantamount to an obstruction of justice and a criminal offence. On 17th January, the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) wrote him asking that the tape be delivered to the relevant authority and is today again asking that same be done.
The police are also asked to carry out their responsibility to the people and ask the President for the tape or execute the requisite action to acquire same. In the meanwhile if the President continues to fail to deliver the tape he cannot fault the citizenry for questioning the truthfulness of his claim.
Though the President rightly ranks drugs a top crime priority he simultaneously engages in acts that hinder its elimination. In as much as he knows “they bring in guns with the drugs. Drugs don’t go by themselves, they go along with guns,’ …[and] the fight must be fuelled by the destruction drugs pose to the future of young people and not because another country wants it”.
His administration fails to continue to aggressively confront the matter. For everyone knows the drug lords walk this land with impunity, openly flaunting their ill-gotten gains, has friends in high places even as  the lasting impression remains of the Roger Khan’s sprawling enterprises and his public boast of helping the government in crime fighting, along with subsequent revelations in the New York court. The insincerity of the President’s claim is reinforced in his statement that some countries want to turn the Guyana Police Force into their drug fighting entity and that such interest ought to be resisted.
Why would a government refuse to cooperate with other governments to contain and eliminate cross-border crimes, including drug trafficking, which are matters of international security import? This fight cuts across national borders and has secured international collaboration out of recognition that the sources of production, distribution and consumption adversely affect persons and countries around the world. What does Guyana have to hide that the President is not telling this nation?
The Congress also finds it hard to accept the President’s statement that Guyana was refused international assistance to fight the drug scourge and that, “we were basically told that those were national issues.” The nation should recall the assistance offered by the British through a grant and the USA to set up a Drug Enforcement Agency office, all of which this government found reasons to torpedo.
Further, the refusal to implement the recommendations of the 2004 Disciplined Forces Commission Report, the 2000 Government of Guyana/Guyana Trades Union Congress Agreement, enforcing the Coroner’s Act, and reining rouge cops, are all indications that President Jagdeo is not serious about ensuring the people of this nation get the security needed to go about their daily lives in peace and harmony.
Professor Clive Thomas and the international financial institutions have also reported that at least half of the informal economy is being represented in the official GDP. President Jagdeo needs to tell this nation why aren’t the tax department and police empowered and given the necessary support of his administration to go after the drug lords and seize the assets of those convicted.
It is a held view that the cease fire to the drug wars is not an indication that they no longer exist, but more a pact with their bosses who also walk the corridors of power and it is only a matter of time before the guns are drawn again. The silence is not real.
As Chief Public Servant, President Jagdeo has taken an oath of office to uphold the Constitution and is therefore out of order to tell the officers that, “If someone points a gun at you…you must shoot to kill.” This is a clear indication how much this country has regressed and lawlessness has become the order of the day under his stewardship. The officers are asked to rethink this position since it belongs to a primitive era and not modern policing.
The police are encouraged to adhere to good policing standards. If the President has no regard for modernity, professionalism, adherence to law and standards and how history records him, officers committed to the Force’s motto should.
These officers are referred to the advice of renowned jurist and former Chief Justice Keith Massiah, SC in the final report of the Disciplined Services Commission enquiry into the active participation of Minister of Home Affairs Ronald Gajraj in the phantom squad, wherein he said: “Killings, however reasonable and expedient in the opinion of many persons of goodwill, ought not to be countenanced.
Even the alleged serial killer the persistent rapist and the paedophile, detestable as those pariahs are, enjoy the fundamental right to a fair hearing and the full protection of due process. Persons who are thought to have committed crimes must be arrested, charged and tried in a court of law. Nothing less can be accepted.”
This administration continues to display its contempt for the laws of this country and the rights of the citizens in furtherance of its political interests to govern a divided nation for the interest of a few.
Security continues to be a major wedge issue in our society and the absence of social justice works to the absence of peaceful co-existence and an environment where persons can go about their business in pursuit of their legitimate aspirations and happiness.
The theme of the officers’ conference is “Consolidating our gains through effective strategic planning and institutional modernisation for safer communities” and it will be encouraging to give meaning to same by adhering to what is just and right. Commissioner Henry Greene says the annual conference can be seen as a time of revival, resolution, spring cleaning and house cleaning.
It is hope that as the force takes stock of itself, it remembers the reason for its existence, its motto to serve and protect, and moreso having its actions guided by democratic values, fundamental human rights, social justice and rule of law; not the “dictate” of the President Jagdeo, Home Affairs Minister and Government when such dictate violate tenets that are crucial to good policing.
If the police do the right thing they will have the support of the community whose respect and trust they need to make their jobs effective and efficient. The people on the other hand must hold them accountable.
Lincoln Lewis

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