A looming dictatorship?

Nov 14, 2014 Editorial

Much has already been written about the recent recorded phone conversation between a high-ranking public official and a professional journalist. The more serious issue apart from whether the call was intercepted – as indeed was clearly not the case – was the public officer engaged in behavior synonymous with misbehaviour in public office. If the Attorney General is aware of offences committed by anyone within these borders then it is a reasonable expectation that he would make this knowledge available to the police.
Imagine a hypothetical scenario where a senior government functionary has knowledge that an individual has committed a crime against the state and has not forwarded this information for the relevant authorities to take the necessary action. Obviously what arises is the question regarding the possible reason(s) for withholding those facts. Maybe horse trading or to be used as a bargaining chip in the high stakes action and grandstanding that pass for politics in this country. It should not escape notice that in such a hypothetical scenario as outlined, the refusal to exercise a public function could reside in the existence of some improper, dishonest or oppressive motive rather than a mere abuse of power.
The other aggravating issue is the seeming reluctance by the police to pursue investigations in circumstances involving senior government functionaries when allegations are made against them. Such unwillingness is not evident when the allegation is made by the official against some hapless ordinary Joe. The haste with which the police perform their functions, sometimes in the absence of compelling actual or circumstantial evidence, is one which never ceases to amaze even the most casual observer. The vagrant thought that sometimes takes root wonders how is it possible for the police to so thoroughly botch an investigation as to make securing a conviction an impossibility.
During the crime wave, the frequency with which the fingerprints of the usual suspects turned up at crime scenes reeked of impropriety and professional misconduct. It is not unknown for investigators to plant evidence linking particular individuals to a crime scene, especially if the means by which the suspect can clear his/her name are remote. In other words, the identification of persons to heinous crimes such as the Sawh and Lusignan killings served the major purpose of appeasing a certain ethnic segment of society and helped drive an alienated constituency back to its traditional fold. And therefore it is more relevant to determine if certain actions spring from mistake or error, or from a dishonest, oppressive, or corrupt motive, under which description, fear and favour may generally be included.
The Attorney General in his conversation alluded to at least two instances of law-breaking of which he had knowledge. What is not known is what official action he took to ensure that justice was served. From all indications nothing was reported and no official action was taken to make sure the malefactor faced the fullest extent of the law. From all appearances it seems as if the information was withheld to use as some form of bargaining chip or worst still the B word to keep the Kaieteur News in its place.
What we have here is a departure from established norms that is not merely negligent but amounts to an affront to the standing of the public office held. Public office holders are required to aspire for a high threshold of conduct, but the available evidence suggests words and actions so far below acceptable standards as to be an abuse of the public’s trust in the office holder.
It goes without saying that KN is in a bruising battle to retain freedom of the press in this country. It is not surprising that ardent supporters of press freedom during the PNC regime are dumbstruck in this new dispensation that is rife with injustices and oppression. The sad reality is that any and all liberal-minded and even the ultraconservative would be hard-pressed to ignore what is happening in this country. The rate at which this despotic government is going about trampling on the constitutional rights of the Guyanese people makes it a distinct possibility that we are headed for a full-blown dictatorship.

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