Another no-no from the new Home Affairs Minister

Dec 03, 2025 Editorial, News

(Kaieteur News) – New Minister of Home Affairs, Oneidge Walrond, is making her presence felt, coming down hard on the Guyana Police Force (GPF), and what has troubled the existence of Guyanese for decades.

Demands for a bribe by members of the GPF patrolling the streets of Georgetown and its outskirts, those operating in station houses across the length and breadth of Guyana. It is a breath of fresh air for long exploited Guyanese to hear Minister Walrond’s tough, no-nonsense position. The GPF upholds the law, citizens go about their law-abiding business, without the anxieties of being victimised by a shakedown, often right under the public’s gaze. Now, the new minister is going after another eyesore in Guyana, which are those deep, impenetrable tints on an endless caravan of vehicles.

There seems to be more tinted vehicles by far on the roadways than those without tints, or tints that can be seen through. What a regular citizen sees, as a matter of routine, a member of the GPF should have no problem seeing also, even if he or she is half awake and halfway through a stint on the roads. There are just too many vehicles with too thick tints that are on the roads, and which represent a problem for both the GPF and the public. If there is the need to identify a vehicle’s occupants, in the event that there is a development, such as a hit-and-run accident, or a crime committed, then that becomes a problem. Given the tints on countless vehicles that we at this paper have seen, those tints cannot have been approved, or meet lawful requirements. They are unsettling, and they are unacceptable, because they place law-abiding citizens at a huge disadvantage. While all of that is so, there is something else that stands out, there is no way that those tints can measure up to what is lawful.

This is where Minister Walrond is making her voice heard in the strongest terms. She started with ranks of the GPF, who must set the example by stripping the tints on their private vehicles that don’t meet current requirements. Furthermore, the minister’s warning left little room for misinterpretation, of individual discretion. “Let it be clearly understood that the law applies to everyone equally. Those empowered to enforce the law must be the first to uphold it.” And clearly understood it must be, with GPF ranks immediately obeying the order of the minister. We believe that there are too many vehicles currently on the roads that have tints, which prompts two questions: what do the owners or operators of those vehicles have to hide? Why is it that the identity of drivers and passengers of vehicles using Guyana’s towns and villages need to be shielded behind tints that do not comfort those on the outside, nor make any sense.

We agree with Vice President and Guyana’s chief policymaker, Bharrat Jagdeo, that some members of the security forces, and members of the diplomatic corps, should be approved for a higher standard of tint. We interpret that to mean, a deeper, thicker tint standard, and to which we would recommend adding members of Guyana’s judiciary. Those are the only exemptions that should be considered for approval. Exemptions from tint standards should be the exception, and not allowed to become the norm, so that all citizens are subject to the same level operating field. Relative to parliamentarians, our thinking is that those who represent the people should be seen by the people, and not hiding themselves away behind highly tinted vehicles. The same tint standard must apply to senior public servants, unless there are sensitive security considerations that apply.

Why should a minister be fielding requests for tint exemption permits on an ongoing basis? We support Vice President’s Jagdeo stand that the minister’s time is precious, and there are better uses for it. Minister Walrond has been setting some new standards in her new Home Affairs portfolio. Once she is about follow-up action, and not words that are pleasing to hear, she should do well, better than many of her predecessors, who warmed that seat. Minister Walrond should next set her sights on double parking that plagues Georgetown, clogs it up.

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Editorial, Guyana Police Force, Home Affairs, Minister, Oneidge Walrond

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