Law in place-plus and minus

Dec 24, 2025 Editorial, News

(Kaieteur News) – It is reassuring to have a law in place on the vital areas of public life, and sensitive developments in the lives of individual citizens. There is comfort that legal protections are in place, and should there be a violation of rights, the law is there to provide the appropriate level of restraint and relief. The E-ID card system, now in its preliminary rollout stage, a noncompulsory period, has generated considerable interest and anxiety on the part of citizens. We believe that it is confidence-inducing to have a law in place now, and not later. Put the horse before the cart, and give Guyanese the sense that their highly personal information, some of which is known only to themselves, is secure, and that the right types of legal firewalls are in place, so they can rest comfortably.

Like many developments in this country that give off the positive at the inception, it has been a continuing source of disappointment that what looked good at the beginning, doesn’t stay so when examined closely, or put to the test. There is a Cybercrime law, and its fair application has been called into question, not as a one-off, but too often for Guyanese to rest their head on it. There have been sharp differences on who is ignored and protected, who is charged and harshly punished, and who is allowed to operate with disdain for the law, and given a mere slap on the wrist, if that. One glaring example of a law that seems to be part of some Machiavellian scheme is the Natural Resource Fund (NRF) Act.

The NRF captures the attention because it has things in reverse order, in what is present, and what required great cunning to leave out. There is a provision that penalises those who spill the beans on wrongdoing with Guyana’s most precious natural asset. But there is a noticeable lack of inclusion of a provision in the NRF Act that empowers going after anyone who engages in the committing of an actual wrong relative to Guyana’s oil funds. This deficiency could be an accidental loophole, or part of the kind of scheming and preplanning that protect those who violate the law. The claim could be made that no law was broken. If the relevant provision was not made in the law, then no violation occurred, as was claimed in the controversial disposition of two oil blocks in the early days of oil discovery offshore Guyana.

The clamor is for a robust law to stand above the E-ID system, but Guyanese had better keep watchful eyes on what is in such a law but, just as importantly, what is conveniently left out. To have a law is good, but bitter experience has taught Guyanese that when they thought that there is a law to protect them, either it is not as comprehensive as it should be, or that it can be used against them to hurt their interests, and leave them helpless.

Even more glaring is the Access to Information law that has been in place for over 14 years. It provides a channel for interested citizens to obtain information on different and vital segments having to do with how the government runs their business. Certain steps have been identified in the law and once followed to the letter, then the information requested should be released within the timeframes specified. The opposite has been the norm generally experienced by those petitioning the Access to Information office. There has been silence, there has been delay, and there has also been the insulting that Guyanese have been forced to live with, but with little information released, although there is a law to provides for that access. To reduce matters to the unbelievable and ridiculous, the president washed his hands of involvement when he said that he keeps his distance, and doesn’t get involved. There is a law, and then there are these lessons from leaders that speak to their skills in tapdancing around challenging issues put before them.

We know that an E-ID law could give citizens some level of confidence. What we don’t know is how the law would be constructed, so as to leave them exposed.

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cybercrime law, e-ID card, Editorial, legal firewalls

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