Dear Editor,
As we race towards 2025, coming on the heels of the fiery death of 20 of our Amerindian children at Mahdia, the Dharamlall scandal threatens to bring disgrace to the PPP and energize the Opposi-tion which has rightly latched on to an issue that will have traction across Guyana. All Guyana is glued to this prime-time story. The PPP must take all blame for allowing the Dharamlall issue to simmer and boil over to the big scandal it has become now. All Guyana is glued to how President Ali is handling this issue. It seems like a no-brainer that this Minister should be fired pronto to show all Guyana that the President means business about moral leadership. This is not the time to circle the wagons around the Minister. This is a moral issue not a political issue. By waffling and wavering, the government has allowed the Opposition to take the moral high road. The Opposition is on the right side of this matter, even if there are political motives too.
True, Minister Dharamlall deserves due process and must be presumed innocent until proven guilty. The law is an ass. Even if you see somebody do something wrong in front of your own eyes, and there is an abundance of evidence, you have to call that “allegations.” When PNC people were rigging the 2020 elections right in front of our eyes with foreign observers watching it all, those were “allegations” of rigging. So far, the Government side is bumbling, fumbling, blundering on this issue. Why did the Minister get bail quickly and was not held over? Why was the Minister not charged as yet? Why did the President not fire the Minister once the Kaieteur News broke the story? “Waiting for a Police report” was not the best answer. When Mr. Bascom appealed to the President for help and protection, did he ever get it?
When I looked at this Minister’s record here is what I found in the news reports. Apparently, there was an allegation made by a New York-based young woman, Shanaz Hussein (New York-based woman accuses Minister Dharamlall of harassing her for sex -President says she should report to the police (SN, April 2, 2022); “Accusation against Minister Dharamlall, (SN, April 4, 2022). There was a News-Room article which said Mr. Dharamlall was one of a group of 6 charged – “$300M fraud charges against former GRDB directors thrown out” (NR, Oct 17, 2019). The article said the Prosecutor did not show up for 3 consecutive times so the charges were dismissed. Attorneys representing the persons charged included Priya Manickchand, Anil Nandlall, and others, according to the article. There was another headline, “US revokes visas of MPs Seeraj, Dharamlall,” (SN, June 16, 2017). It appears as if this was related to the fraud charges which were dropped, and visas may have been restored.
There was another article, “Cops probing PPP MP over alleged shooting threat,” (SN, May 31, 2016). The article said, “Stabroek News was reliably informed yesterday that Dharamlall allegedly took out his firearm and threatened to shoot an employee of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) office in Guyana after he saw the individual communicating with his ex-wife.” Related articles are “PPP will continue to ‘engage’ Dharamlall over alleged shooting threat,” (SN, June 21, 2016). Another article said, “Dharamlall will have to give ‘believable’ explanations – Jagdeo,” (SN, June 2, 2016). The article reports, “Clearly he has to give explanations, solid explanations, believable explanations to the executive of the party and to us because the allegations are serious,” Jagdeo told members of the media at a press conference yesterday at the party’s headquarters. In this matter, there was another report that said, “No charge to be laid against Dharamlall, (SN, June 16, 2016). The news report said, “A reliable source yesterday informed Stabroek News that the case file which was sent to the DPP’s Chambers on May 27 was returned to the police and it has been recommended that there be no charge since the two parties had “settled” the matter.
Then, there is the headline, “Opposition motion seeking expulsion of Dharamlall from Parliament” (SN, February 23, 2022). This had to do with the “dildo” remark Mr. Dharamlall made in parliament to a woman APNU MP. But instead of Mr. Dharamlall being made to apologize or be reprimanded by the Speaker, it was “Duncan suspended from National Assembly after protesting dildo remark by Dharamlall” (SN, February 10, 2022). This prompted blogger “Burch01, a year ago, to say, “Yes, indeed we are spiraling downwards. The PPP is cultivating a monster…..best wishes. If you cannot see that, then you are also part of the unfolding decadence.”
Interestingly, there is a headline “Speaker walks out of House after opposition disobedience” (SN, June 17, 2017). The article said, “The business of the National Assembly was at a standstill for 15 minutes last evening when Speaker of the House, Dr. Barton Scotland, walked out of the chambers in the face of a refusal by the opposition side of the house to follow his directives…This latest confrontation between Scotland and the Opposition Members of Parliament started when opposition backbencher Nigel Dharamlall refused to withdraw his statement that the Government of Guyana was “decimating” the Indigenous People. Dharamlall had made the statement during his presentation on a motion brought by his colleague Pauline Sukhai to withdraw the Commis-sion of Inquiry into Land Rights.” Now Mr. Dharamlall is accused of raping and sodomizing an Indigenous schoolgirl who is a minor.
The Government side must not circle the wagons as is their usual modus operandi. It must decide whether it will carry this ongoing liability which is distracting from the highs of the landslide victory won at the LGE, or whether it will regain higher ground by cutting loose this liability. The ABC/EU are watching. So most definitely visa bans are likely to return on all the enablers. I wondered how did this fella get promoted to a Minister?
Sincerely,
Dr. Jerry Jailall