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Minister Benn running interference

Jan 18, 2025 Editorial, News

Editorial…

 Kaieteur News- Let the man answer, Minister Benn.  Why is Minister of Home Affairs, Robeson Benn, running a protective detail for Commissioner of Police, Clifton Hicken?  We are positive that Guyana’s Top Cop can stand on his own feet, speak for himself.  The question, therefore, is why does Minister Benn think it necessary for him to jump on the same press standards perfected by Vice President Jagdeo, what is now a blight on the work of the free press in Guyana.

When the simple question about why he opted to remain as Top Cop was put by Demerara Waves to Commissioner Hicken, given the existence of a multimillion-dollar fraud under his watch, Minister Benn moved swiftly, vigorously.  He put up an impenetrable shield around Commissioner Hicken.  He will take the question; the commissioner cannot answer.  Minister Benn is smart enough to know that doesn’t help Commissioner Hicken.  It makes him look weak and impotent when the minister’s runs forward to provide friendly cover for him.  When the ministry’s permanent secretary also felt that he had to hurry to the rescue of Commissioner Hicken, it only compounded the doubts about what they think is their duty, and increased the concerns about their anxieties.  When people as ranking as a minister and a permanent secretary conduct themselves in this sketchy manner, they give themselves away.

What is there that is so troubling that Commissioner Hicken that he is prevented from responding to a basic inquiry about why chose to stay in his Top Cop role?  Is there more to his surprise confirmation in the most senior law enforcement job in this country?  When Minister Benn does a fair imitation of Vice President Jagdeo and shoulders journalists and their questions to the side, then Guyanese know from long experience that there is much darkness afoot.  For a long time, Minister Benn has garnered a reputation as a straight shooter, a politician who made sure everyone knew where he stood on an issue.  Climate change has seemingly brought about a radical adjustment in his temperament and his attitudes to what was handled in a frank and full manner before by him.  Now he is all politician and his tongue all tied up by political talk.  We recommend that Minister Benn study that picture of him virtually elbowing Commissioner Hicken to the side and taking over the question about his continuing presence.  He shouldn’t like what he sees of himself, for it is an indication about how much he is of politics these days, and how far he has drifted the interests of the people.

Power makes people do strange things in this country.  Political calculations drive politicians to forget their duty to citizens, even forget who they once were.  The Guyana Police Force (GPF) has been victimized by internal fraud, a major drug bust at Matthews Ridge (that sidelined it), and more than one of its seniors being stopped and frisked at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport.  In the best of circumstances, it is a worrying record, but there was a sitting minister and a permanent secretary who should know better (or didn’t) falling over themselves to insulate the man in charge of the GPF from opening his mouth.  What is it that the commissioner could possibly have inside of him that Minister Benn is afraid to get out in the public domain?

Minister Benn may have difficulty admitting this, but the GPF lives with very poor public perception as its companion.  When most unconnected Guyanese encounter a member of the GPF, officer or rank, they do not feel a sense of security.  They fear a shakedown coming under the flimsiest of pretenses, which parts them from they can least afford.  When Minister Benn, then, inserts himself in front of Commissioner of Police Clifton Hicken, he confirms the worst fear fears, the worst suspicions, of what is going on in the GPF.  To put it politely, what Minister Benn with his ill-thought-out intervention was to convert the commissioner to an invisible presence, equivalent to someone not there, and a hapless one to boot.  The remaining issue revolves around how long the minister is going to take on this extra duty of speaking for Commissioner Hicken.

(Minister Benn running interference)

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