Minister of Home Affairs, Clement Rohee, on Monday refused to pronounce publicly on the rum shop brawl between his Cabinet colleague, Kellawan Lall, and a teenager at an East Coast Demerara bar back in November, saying his position on the issue was ventilated internally.
“I think this matter was properly ventilated in the media, the minister was reprimanded by the ruling party and the police have sent the file to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for advice,” Rohee said, in a response to a question at a press conference he hosted at his ministry. Aside from declining to comment further on the matter, Rohee did not provide any detailed answers to questions the reporters posed before asking them to let the subject rest.
Lall, who is Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, allegedly gun-whipped teenager Joseph Doodnauth and fired off several rounds into the air during a row in relation to the young man’s aunt at a rum shop in the wee hours of the morning on November 18. Doodnauth told this newspaper that he and Lall have since settled the matter outside of the courts and do not wish to pursue it further.
Lall in a statement on Monday but only sent to Stabroek News on Thursday said he only discharged one shot and had been attempting a citizen’s arrest after having been assaulted earlier in the evening by a cousin of the person he was in the company of.
He added that he has made a statement to the police which he believes to be true and correct and under the circumstances the right course of action is for the police to investigate the matter.
Observers have said that Lall’s actions set a bad example to civilians and as minister responsible for security Rohee should have let his position be made known to the public.
Acting Commissioner of Police, Henry Greene, who also attended the press conference, noted that Lall and Doodnauth had decided to settle the matter. He also added that both Lall and Doodnauth were culpable. Greene also made it clear that he is not charged with pronouncing on the minister’s errant behaviour, but government.
He said the minister has since surrendered his firearm and as regards his discharging that firearm, that matter was before the DPP. “I don’t want to pre-empt the DPP’s actions, but we should all wait and see what the ruling would be,” Greene advised.
He added that matters such as these were not solved overnight. Police said they had submitted the file to the DPP several weeks ago, but to date no word has been forthcoming.
People’s Progressive Party General Secretary, Donald Ramotar, told a press conference recently that his party’s Central Executive had reprimanded Lall over his conduct. He said the party spoke to Lall very seriously about the issue and though discharging a weapon was indiscreet on Lall’s part, he did not think, based on the minister’s account to the party, that the whole story was made public. Ramotar said his party had “very high standards” but also gives its members the opportunity to correct themselves. “We are not a party that would just kill people for the first mistake that they make,” he said, adding that the party has disciplined its members in the past, though not for one incident. “It has to be over a series,” he said.
Several groups and citizens have condemned Lall’s conduct and called on the government to sack him. In response President Bharrat Jagdeo had said that Lall would not be asked to resign over the incident. The Alliance For Change has since submitted a motion to Parliament to have Lall explain his conduct.
