On Wednesday, members of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) entered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as part of a supposed cybercrime probe during which they seized electronic devices, one of which was the property of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and others belonging to Foreign Service Officer, Sharmayne Balram. They then personally escorted her, in her words, “like a common criminal to the Criminal Investigation Department and made me sign a ledger confirming I was arrested”.
Ms Balram is the executive assistant to Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, Hugh Todd. On Saturday Mr Todd told Stabroek News that following the incident he contacted the Commissioner of Police, Clifton Hicken, who confirmed that the seizure of the ministry’s laptop was not authorized. Consequently, the device was returned.
There are several serious issues that have to be addressed. The first relates to the GPF but given its inscrutability it is unlikely that answers will be forthcoming. Who in the police force authorised this foray into the Ministry and based on what complaint? Now that he has been acquainted with the facts of the matter, will Mr Hicken take it upon himself to find out?
Half of the equation is already known. It was the former Minister of Local Government, Nigel Dharamlall who instigated the investigation. On his Facebook page he said: “Further to a private investigation I undertook, information has come forth that allowed me today, Wednesday 31 July, 2024, to make a further report to the Guyana Police Force…” and he then proceeded to name Ms Balram. Did Mr Dharamlall lodge a complaint in person or over the phone or by email? Who in the police force decided that the complaint was of such great importance and credibility that it warranted a visit to the ministry and the seizing of devices as opposed to inviting Ms Balram to attend Eve Leary in the presence of her counsel? Was it possible that a cybercrime had been committed against Ms Balram to acquire the information Mr Dharamlall believed that he had?
Despite requests by this newspaper for information on the visit by the police to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Eve Leary has been silent though it was unusually forthcoming in a cybercrime probe involving a complaint by the US Embassy.
Second, in the course of her duties as the executive assistant to the minister, Ms Balram would be privy to sensitive information pertaining to foreign missions here and a range of international matters such as Venezuela relations which may or may not have been entered on the ministry’s laptop which was seized by the police. That the ministry’s laptop was taken and kept by the police for some time amounts to a serious breach of security and the confidentiality of matters that might have been entered on that device. This is something that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should be concerned about. It must determine what had been on the laptop and seek to minimise the risk of any of that information possibly having been compromised.
Third, the “complaint” by Mr Dharamlall appears to be another ill-judged attempt by him and his handlers at Freedom House to attempt to rehabilitate his image in the aftermath of the varied serious allegations against him. For some reason or the other, Mr Dharamlall appears to be very important to the planning of PPP headquarters and that could be the only explanation as to why he was elevated to sixth in the voting for the PPP’s Central Committee at its May Congress. He corralled 1912 votes in sixth position, just 103 votes less than Gail Teixeira and more votes than Collin Croal, Anil Nandlall and others.
Surely, it reflected poorly on the party that nearly two-thirds of its delegates voted in favour of Mr Dharamlall who quit the government after shocking allegations of rape against him. Such, however, was the influence of his backers at Freedom House that he was propelled to sixth. That thoughtless decision backfired when another series of allegations were made against him by a woman and a most unsatisfactory investigation by the police cleared him.
This latest misguided attempt now seeks to sanitise his image by suggesting that he had been wronged by Ms Balram and making a public spectacle of her. The serious, unresolved allegations against Mr Dharamlall rule him out of consideration for any task in a ruling party let alone the government. It is unclear what it will take for the government to come around to this recognition. Even President Ali had difficulty making this determination. At a press conference on July 12, 2023, in response to a question from Stabroek News, the President said that there had been no deliberations on the possible re-employment of Mr Dharamlall by government.
“In the course of natural justice, the system that supports natural justice must be allowed to work and that is what the President did. Whether the minister who is a citizen will have any (further) work in government is not something I have considered nor has he requested, at this moment,” the President said.
This latest attempt to salvage Mr Dharamlall’s image has backfired. President Ali should really try to discern what is transpiring and level with the public. Who ordered this investigation of Ms Balram, does it reflect rogue behaviour in the police force and has sensitive information been compromised?
