Lack of punctuality, lack of respect

Feb 18, 2026 Editorial, News

(Kaieteur News) – Lateness is a chronic sickness in Guyana. It interferes with the smooth flow of business, when appointments and schedules are not diligently honored. Some accidents on the East Bank Demerara public road have been traced to already late airline passengers racing at dangerous speeds to catch their flight, with either serious injury or deaths resulting. Even parliament a few years ago was made to wait on the budget presenter, who took his own sweet time to make a statement by arriving several minutes late.

It didn’t matter that parliament had to wait, and it must have given a sense of powerful satisfaction to have a whole country waiting on pins and needles to hear what that budget had in store. Lateness is a version of that ugly scourge that hurts Guyana, domestic violence, but is one without the pain and blood. Angering and frustration, for sure, but not much beyond some mild reprimand. Not so Principal Magistrate, Judy Latchman, who was a figure of impatience, and barely managed distaste, at We Invest in Nationhood leader, Azruddin Mohamed, for his 35 minutes lateness. He could have missed his seat on a flight, but he didn’t miss a few hours of sitting in custody waiting for Magistrate’s Latchman’s judicial wrath to cool.

Mohamed did the right thing by apologizing and throwing himself at the mercy of the court. He met with the cold frown of an unhearing Judy Latchman. It was not the first time that he has been tardy and what was interpreted as disrespect for her court, so out came the handcuffs, and off he was to a holding area. The man under severe pressures that seem to multiply without source claimed that his lateness was part of ongoing political persecution at the hands of a “wicked, vindictive PPP Government”.

The tires of his vehicles were slashed, and it was not the first time. Earlier, one tire was slashed, but a spare rescued him from being late. On this last occasion, two crippled tires kept him away from making a timely and respectful appearance before the court. The political persecution is now so intense that the recently sworn in Leader of the Opposition cannot even obtain insurance for his vehicles. According to Mohamed, the likely perpetrators behind the tire slashings are members of the Special Branch of the Guyana Police Force, which is under the thumb of the PPPC Government.

Unfortunately for Mohamed, all of his explanations fell on deaf ears, as Magistrate Latchman apparently had had her fill, and her mind was made up. A stern warning that a repeat would not be tolerated, and a few hours in custody to show that she was all business. Did Principal Magistrate Latchman overreact, let her frustrations get the better of her usual judicial equanimity? Without a doubt, it is not only Mohamed who is under heavy pressure, this jurist is also likely to be facing severe pressures on her own.

She may be justified to some extent, but a case could be made that the penalty was on the heavy-handed side. Was she unreasonable, a little lacking in magisterial kindness, since Mohamed claimed that it was only his second instance of lateness, with the first time being by a mere two minutes? We doubt that Ms. Latchman could be unaware of the tightening circumstances that have made Mohamed’s life a constant torment, and that his latest tire slashing experience was part of a continuum.

She did say “I will temper justice with mercy”, but that got diluted when she dished out those hours in custody. Then, with her every word laced with judicial menace, she said, “I am very much inclined to…remand you to prison so I can guarantee that you will be here on time on the next occasion.” Now that Azruddin Mohamed has been properly and sternly warned, the rest is up to him. Whatever the future PPPC Government political persecutions that he may be the object of, he had better be present in Principal Magistrate Latchman’s court, or his goose is cooked. However he gets to court that is his challenge. No lateness, no excuses, no apologies will be accepted. His noose just tightened.

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Azruddin Mohamed, Editorial, Lateness, PPPC, punctuality, respect

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