In the wake of the stunning allegation that eight presidential guards spearheaded an enforcer operation on behalf of a Brazilian businessman that involved vandalism and a series of other crimes, one would expect the immediate standing down of the Head of the Presidential Guard, an instant shake-up of arrangements for presidential security, a risk assessment and an inquiry into exactly what transpired.
This, however, is Guyana. A country that has been enmeshed in a hair-raising whirlpool of extra-judicial enforcement and violence inflicted by an assortment of shadowy groups with connections to the police and military but absent any investigation of this scourge or prosecution of those responsible.
Yet, the allegations against the eight guards and others are still deeply shocking. The guards are alleged to have been recruited by a partner in a sand business who had an ongoing feud with his other partner.
According to eyewitnesses, the guards descended on the premises and engaged themselves in such a way as to make it seem that they were fully authorised. Indeed, they attempted to persuade police who turned up that they were properly in possession of the sand location and that there was no need for the police.
Luckily, the police were not dissuaded, having been contacted by an employee of the company amid the chaos at the site and the vandalism that was occurring. So elaborate was the planning of the attack that a truck was mobilized to carry equipment to the site to enable the completion of the sabotage job. The truck encountered trouble in the sands of the area and had to be abandoned. It is now a veritable treasure trove of evidence against those who commissioned the raid and their accomplices.
The earliest casualty of this assault is the peace of mind of dozens of investors who have sunk money into this country – in this case, a Sri Lankan-born Canadian, Mr Joseph Bhaskaran. Is it this easy to recruit para-military people to terrorize businesses? Prospective investors would think twice about setting up shop here after reading about this case, moreso if there is no proper investigation of this matter and a clear determination to root out this behaviour.
It should also not escape attention that the resort to extra-judicial enforcement is a declaration of contempt for the legal system. Matters pertaining to the business were already being addressed in court but this did not deter the business partner and others – presidential guards, no less – from acting with great venom against their target.
At the apex of concerns about this incident is the stark reality that some of the persons who guard the president are completely unsuitable for the job. The scale of the involvement in his incident bespeaks of a culture and pattern. In all likelihood guards have been hiring themselves out for various tasks and discovery only occurred last week because of the scale of the episode.
It raises the troubling question of whether anyone in the Office of the President itself was aware of what was transpiring. Was their tacit approval for the guards hiring themselves out – weapons and all – in a bid to supplement their income? Might this explain why up to now charges have not been brought against anyone even though myriad transgressions of the law occurred and eyewitnesses are available?
Whatever the outcome of this case, presidential security has suffered a grievous blow and the situation requires swift and decisive action to restore normalcy.
A lot of what is occurring also feeds off of the general disdain for law and order in the country, the undermining of the police force and the entrenching of pernicious criminality in the form of organized criminal gangs.
None of this has been investigated. This government will be demitting office within a few months but without ever having convened a credible probe of organized crime and its causes. This disinterest and the enlisting of these groups by influential persons have emboldened the enforcer-types to brazenly ply their trade.
It has also caused milder but no less egregious incidents such as the assault last week of NIS inspectors who were attempting to gather documents from an East Bank employer. The perpetrators seem to draw their gumption from their perceived or broadcast relationship with those in authority and feel that they are completely immune to any disciplinary action.
Execution-style killings and `hits’ are also a continuing problem here with the police completely unable to solve any of them.
Taken all together, the recent allegations against the presidential guards demand that the government and its law enforcement arms rigorously investigate and prosecute those guilty in the attack on the sand business.
