Dear Editor,
I read of Commodore Best’s reaction to the loss of a single rifle from the GDF HQ in early December of 2007. It was reported that some officers including Lt Col Windee Algernon were relieved of their duties. It is my opinion that Commodore Best overreacted in an effort to pander to his political boss. This is rather sad and is reminiscent of the days of PNC dictatorship when the Chief of Staff had to constantly display loyalty to Burnham rather than loyalty to his soldiers. Yes, a commander’s first loyalty must be to his men (and women).
Stealing from armies is nothing new. It is being done all the time all over the world. The most common perpetrators of these thefts are common criminals and organized crime who infiltrate the army and have their acolytes steal weapons and other ordnance. All armies have devised systems to detect and recover stolen weapons. During my tenure in the GDF, there were many instances of theft of weapons but there was never the hunt for scapegoats as is being currently done. I personally had several experiences with stolen weapons and I was never witch-hunted by the PNC cadres in the GDF although I was deemed a “PPP Spy.”
In 1983 whilst on company training at Tacama one of my soldiers “lost” a rifle magazine. The entire company went out, searched, and found the item. Two weeks later the same soldier “lost” his rifle. His platoon took him out and “caused” him to recover the weapon. In 1984, a few grenades went missing from Camp Groomes. After investigations by Int Corp the grenades were recovered at the home of a soldier. In 1985, a rifle went missing at Camp Stephenson whilst I was the orderly officer. After investigations, it was recovered within two hours. In 1987 there were a few scares of missing weapons at Camp Ayanganna whilst I was the adjutant but in all cases the weapons were accounted for.
The point is that people will always try to steal weapons from the GDF. In my days in the GDF we were told that the threat was from the WPA, yet none of the soldiers who were involved in the incidents that I related above were linked to the WPA. They all stole the weapons out of personal motivation. In those days narco-trafficking and money laundering were in the conception stages. Today they are a major force in Guyana, and this is the threat that the GDF must guard against.
A fugitive from US justice who specialized in stealing and trafficking in weapons in the USA had fled to Guyana where he operated freely. He was held by a GDF patrol on the East Demerara with a cache of weapons in 2002. He was caught because of intelligence gathered by the GDF’s CID. The political boss then ordered that the GDF’s CID be disbanded. A few years later, the GDF lost 30 rifles from its main ordnance bond. The US fugitive was the main suspect and he was channelled into Suriname where he was captured with over a quarter ton of cocaine. The men responsible for his delivery into US DEA hands, Messrs Edward Collins and Winston Felix , were not retained by the political boss.
Please Commodore Best be loyal to your command. Do not look for scapegoats and witch hunt officers. Let Int Corps do its investigations. Theft of weapons always revolve around those who had personal possession of the weapons or those who had immediate access to the weapons.
Yours faithfully,
Malcolm Harripaul
