Dear Editor,
One of the gravest mistakes the APNU+ AFC made when it assumed government almost five years ago was to behave as though the outgoing PPP/C government did nothing to enhance the security sector during its twenty-three years in office.
The euphoria evinced and the narrative expounded by spokespersons of the coalition in respect to the security sector was as if Guyana had just achieved its independence and the new kids on the government block had to start from scratch!
The coalition could not bring themselves to accept that the best they could have done in the circumstances, was give due recognition to and build on the great strides made by the security sector during the PPP/C’s terms in government.
Instead, the coalition administration chose to focus on the negatives.
Ranks belonging to the GPF, GPS, GFS and the GDF are flummoxed by statements emanating from the Green House, the Ministry of the Presidency and Pearl claiming they were denied recapitalization and not provided on an annualized basis with the tools, equipment and human resources necessary for them to respond to internal or external threats.
In fact, ranks recall how prior to 1992, the Office of the President and Ministry of Foreign Affairs were provided with more budgetary resources than health, education, GPF, GPS and GFS put together. That was reversed in favour of the less endowed when the PPP came to office in October of the same year. Ever since then, budgetary allocations and other matters relative to the Joint Services have always received keen attention by all subsequent PPP/C administrations.
Tangible and intangible benefits from security sector projects funded directly from the budget under the PPP/C as well as by the donor community contributed enormously to institutional strengthening and the human resource capacity of the Joint Services especially the GPF.
More, importantly, the additional one month tax free salary granted to ranks belonging to the Joint Services, once deemed a “bribe” by Finance Minister Jordan is viewed as taking bread from the mouths of families of ranks belonging to the Joint Services.
If this is the mess the President claims to be cleaning up then we can conclude he’s just wasting time. What the President should be doing is building up on what the ranks want and not what he wants. If this is not a clear case of political interference in the GPF then what is?
In this respect, aligning police divisions with the 10 administrative regions mainly for restructuring purposes is bad from a strategic and crime fighting perspective. Not only are the commanders not given adequately trained additional ranks, they are not in receipt of the tools and equipment best suited for the terrain in which are stationed. Clearly, the demographic shifts in criminal activity was not taken into consideration by the architects of the move that was more politically motivated than strategic and tactical.
And the sudden shunting across from Eve Leary to the Department of Citizenship of experienced police officers to do “surveys of the Venezuelan migrant population,” notwithstanding what the affected officers have said, is viewed as another manifestation of political interference in the operations of the GPF.
Recent statements made by President Granger in respect to the security sector are therefore misplaced.
Mr. Granger must be reading the editorials of the Stabroek News and Kaieteur News.
Editorials published from time to time in these two newspapers have pointed to the many deficiencies obtaining in the security sector, notably in the Guyana Police Force, the principal law enforcement agency in Guyana.
In this connection, editorials published in the Stabroek News editions of December 20, 2019 and February 4,2020 are instructive.
These are independent, and not political views on the state of affairs obtaining at the GPF which the APNU+AFC has refused to deal with in the same way they have avoided any references to the numerous recommendations contained in the Disciplined Forces Commission Report which Mr. Granger himself participated in formulating.
Incidentally, in his recent speech to the Guyana Veterans’ Legion, Mr. Granger studiously avoided any reference whatsoever to the numerous recommendations contained in the ‘Report of the Presidential Commission Enquiring into the conditions of veterans from the Guyana Defence Force, the Guyana People’s Militia and the Guyana National Service save and except references to what the Commission “examined,” the “establishment of a National Veterans’ Commission” and to “look into the living conditions of veterans and to make recommendations for improvements.”
From 2016 to 2020 not a single recommendation in that report has been implemented.
Finally, should any professional law enforcement organization be commissioned to do a comparative analysis of the performance and delivery of service by the GPF in crime fighting and public safety and security over last five years of the PPP/C’s administration compared to those of the last five years of the APNU+AFC’s the results of that analysis will probably blow the APNU+AFC’s propaganda to smithereens. Mr Granger is on record claiming that; “There is no way the PPP should be allowed to control security in this country again” And that “I cannot put that man in charge of the GDF again! …Right now I’m trying to clean up the mess at the Police Force.” Mr. Granger appears to be confused over what he has control over as a caretaker President and what he doesn’t have as a Presidential Candidate.
Yours faithfully,
Clement J. Rohee
