Sand Dancing

Sep 29, 2014 Editorial

The term ‘sand dancing’ came into vogue locally during the Desmond Hoyte years when it was used to describe the antics of his political opponents who were trying their utmost to avoid public scrutiny of their actions. The recent mad scramble by usually loquacious characters to distance themselves from the impending fallout from allegations against Speaker Raphael Trotman speaks volumes.
Citizens are asked to believe that an operative within the Ministry of Legal Affairs is so politically naïve as to refer the alleged victim of homosexual abuse to an Attorney-at-Law sympathetic to the government without seeking to apprise the principal government officer of the allegation and the identity of the alleged perpetrator. This is all the more unbelievable when the purported abuser of this unspeakable act is a thorn in the government’s flesh and the allegation presents a golden opportunity to kill a few birds with one allegation.
People may perhaps be wondering what would have been the situation if Mr. Trotman had succumbed to the blandishments during that now infamous phone call, and in a fit of distraction acceded to the offer. The remarks by Mr. Moses Nagamootoo are worth considering seriously, because all it would have taken was Trotman’s agreement to pay off his accuser for the allegation to have been accepted as gospel truth. The Speaker would have by his mere utterances become a party to attempting to pervert the course of justice, and it takes no stretch of imagination to visualize how that would have been slanted in the news, particularly in the state media. Trotman does not need enemies with friends like those.
Trotman’s experience with that conversation with ‘his friend’ should be a wakeup call for everyone who deals with government party apparatchiks to be perennially on their guard. People need to be aware that there is technology with the potential to do serious damage if employed by the unscrupulous. There are cell phones which can be manipulated to produce voices totally unlike the caller’s voice so we can imagine what else may be out there.
The Speaker’s apparent dilemma will cause Guyanese to further experience firsthand the unparalleled dangers that accompany the thirst for absolute power. The sand dancing in this recent incident is a stark reminder of the lengths to which some are prepared to go in furtherance of a dastardly plot even up to the extent of violating the sanctity of their office. One may be forgiven, a sense that lower level functionaries are scapegoated regularly on the altar of expediency, especially if they feel beholden to the political master. In other words, public servants have been known to affix their signatures to letters when their entire being is against the contents. It would take a naïve person to believe that the opportunities for employment in similar capacities within the public service would be available to the employee if s/he does not acquiesce to those immoral even illegal directives.
In some quarters the above may pass as no big thing but that attitude can be transmitted into a more serious realm. It is not unknown that people habitually lie under oath and the result may be an innocent person sentenced to a prison term. No one seems to want to accept that the victims in court matters are multiplied exponentially when someone lies under oath. Not only does the virtual complainant or plaintiff not get justice, but the dependents of a person wrongfully accused become victims of a system which believes that if a person swears by a holy book or make an affirmation that the truth will then come forth.
Someone having to defend against a false public accusation while fighting suspicion and tolerating disdain is placed in a horrible predicament. If it is any consolation to those who have been falsely accused it should be noted that creating a scapegoat as a distraction can bond conspirators who otherwise lead empty lives. A false accuser would have to be seriously disturbed to even contemplate ruining an innocent person’s life, and therefore everyone would be well advised to remember Have nothing to do with a false charge and do not put an innocent or honest person to death, for I will not acquit the guilty Exodus 23:7.

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Sand Dancing

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Sand Dancing

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