Just last week in these columns it was lamented how the failure of the prison service and police could have possibly led to the murders of a Saxacalli mother and son, Nellie and David Gomes on March 8. They were believed to have been murdered by Akeem Wong, a rapist serving a 15-year sentence, who escaped from the maximum-security Mazaruni prison compound on February 15th. He was placed at the scene of the murder on March 8th by an eyewitness. Up to the point of the murders of the Gomeses there had been no public updates by the police and the prison service about the efforts to recapture him.
It is a stinging indictment on both the Guyana Prison Service (GPS) and the Guyana Police Force (GPF) that Wong was able to escape in the first place and remain on the loose for so long, trekking, with or without help, from the Mazaruni Prison to Saxacalli where he is now being accused of committing these heinous murders. Aren’t the Joint Services resourced with trackers? How was he able to negotiate the difficult terrain of the prison compound when the GPS has full control of the precincts and the surrounding waters? Was it an inside job? It appears that belatedly several prison officers were questioned over the last week. Why only then? It all points to absolute incompetence in the GPS and GPF for which both Minister Benn and the Commander-in-Chief, President Ali must be held accountable.
Things have gotten even worse. After apparently not doing much to recapture Wong and in the aftermath of the murders at Saxacalli, the Joint Services dispatched a specialised team last week to capture the escapee. Tragedy struck on March 12th at Karrau. Police sergeant Alex Vaughn was fatally shot by another member of the search party. He sustained three gunshot wounds. One caused an abrasion to the right side of the abdomen and the other an abrasion to the right leg, while the third entered through the left side of the abdomen. The policeman who did the shooting is now under close arrest. Yesterday, 31 days after he fled the Mazaruni prison with little known means to evade the security forces, Wong was shot dead by a Joint Services team at Groete Creek. One is tempted to say that all of these events that the police in particular are engaged in outside of their official responsibilities on a daily basis is distracting the already poorly performing force from responding efficiently to major crime.
There continue to be signs of deep-seated disorganisation and poor operational conduct in the force despite the training facility that exists and talk of a “world class” police academy in the making here.
On March 11th, a policeman driving on the East Bank was fired at by members of the police special branch. They had mistaken him for the suspect in the murder of a security guard that day at Vreed-en-Hoop. After the shots were fired and unaware of the identity of the shooters, the terrified policeman drove to the Providence Police Station, hotly pursued by the special branch officers who were eventually placed under close arrest. The police remained silent on this incident for five days. What type of intelligence is the force actioning? The public would be understandably fearful were they to be stopped by policemen and women. What are the rules of engagement for the police? Are they supposed to be firing off rounds at a vehicle with an occupant when no threat is posed?
Poor policing and the political control of the force are two afflictions well-known to PPP/C governments. They have not shown an inclination towards cures for these maladies. Instead, the rot continues and the failures progressively weaken the foundation of law and order. This is exactly the reason why the GPF still has an acting police commissioner in Mr Clifton Hicken and why an extension was sought for him to continue despite his lacklustre performance. What has been definitely needed is root and branch reform of the force and the appointment of a commissioner with the requisite calibre and mettle. That should already have been done but would have required a consultation between President Ali and Opposition Leader Norton which the former appears disinclined to convene. It must be remembered that President Ali is single-handedly defying the spirit of the Guyana constitution by refusing over a period of 43 months to confirm a Chancellor and a Chief Justice of the judiciary.
As this newspaper has said ad nauseam over the years, unless the PPP/C is prepared to truly professionalise the police force and prison service the country will continue to see eruptions of avoidable crime and horrors like the friendly-fire incidents and the Mahdia dormitory blaze. Commiserations by the government with the stricken families count for very little.
