Dear Editor,
Vice President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo during his weekly press conference last Wednesday, October 30, was as comprehensive and incisive as one could be in response to the seemingly inexorable attacks on the administration of the Guyana Police Force, blasting the Opposition parties for their duplicity and accusing them of clutching at straws in a desperate effort to remain relevant. Dr. Jagdeo’s remarks in defence of the Force were evidently prompted by the persistence of the Opposition that the institution is poorly-run, unprofessional, inadequately prepared for the future, and riddled with corruption. His initial observation was that the detractors have nothing consequential to criticize, and are now focusing merely on peripheral issues, because their appeals to racial division have lost traction – panic has set in, thus sullying the image of the Guyana Police Force has become the primary focus.
The Vice President first pointed out how ill-equipped or duplicitous it is for anyone from the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) or Alliance for Change (AFC) to talk about interference in police work. He gave examples of their scandalous dalliances with high-ranking SOCU officials – including giving direct instructions – influencing members of the judiciary to take certain action against him and others on private criminal charges (saying that he has evidence of this), and the assigning of a member of the Special Branch to work (essentially acting as a spy) in the then Office of the Opposition Leader. Dr. Jagdeo likened the latter action to the Watergate scandal, while reflecting that governments around the world have fallen as a result of such unlawful acts; resignations abound when using an arm of the State for spying against political opponents is exposed. He said the APNU+AFC government was doing that routinely and with impunity when in office.
The Vice President also reflected on the use of “hand-picked policemen” to “thwart the will of the people” in 2020, during the General and Regional Elections, and added that the leadership of the Police Force at the time was under the APNU+AFC government’s control. He said that corruption among the top leadership of the force was never more evident as when after the then President, David Granger, consulted with him as Opposition Leader, he (Granger) appointed four Deputy Commissioners, several of whom “were fingered in corrupt practices or allegations of corrupt practices”, similar to those in the charges Assistant Commissioner Calvin Brutus is now facing, about procurement-related frauds, etc. The APNU+AFC government’s response to these revelations was to pass the matters over to the Police Complaints Authority, and eventually clear the allegations, Dr. Jagdeo explained. “It wasn’t taken to SOCU…they didn’t take it there,” he said, as that entity was primarily being used to go after the administration’s political opponents.
The Vice President then turned his attention to the Stabroek News editorial of October 28 that he surmised had been authored by “one of those PNC people”, and within which was the opinion that the Force “needs immediate rescuing and the restoration of a modicum of respectability that can only be achieved by the temporary recruitment of external leadership. This is something that has been argued for by this newspaper extending all the way back to the 1993 murder of Monica Reece. PPP/C governments have never heeded this necessity as they couldn’t envisage losing control of the police force.” Dr. Jagdeo’s riposte to that claim was that from a historical perspective, the PPP has never been in control of the police force. “It’s utter nonsense!” He also scoffed at the assertion in the editorial that “to have an Assistant Commissioner of Police facing serious money-laundering charges is to make a mockery of the functioning and authority of the force”, and used a September 12, 2024 BBC article, titled “New York’s police commissioner resigns amid corruption probe” to drive home the point that it is illogical to paint a whole organization with a broad brush because of one individual’s transgressions.
“Does this make the entire organization (New York Police Department) defunct or not be able to function? The logic of this can’t be substantiated. And this call this position (for an external group to investigate Brutus and the entire Guyana Police Force) is mirrored by the Opposition.” That led Mr. Jagdeo to remind those listening, of the Opposition’s prediction that “the system would never work”. “(They) expressed scepticism that the PPP would allow an independent investigation. It shocked everyone that not only was there an investigation done – because they were hoping that it would take the same route like what they did when they were in office, and that they would have something to hang their hats on.” “But the investigation was done; the file was sent to the DPP with a number of recommended charges and the charges took place. The magnitude of the charges has been mind-blowing to them. These are the same people who were saying nothing will happen. So now they have gone from that (the Brutus issue) to the entire Police Force. This shows the system is working…and that is important to us.”
Dr. Jagdeo once again referenced the Stabroek News for what he saw as “nonsense” in an article published on October 30 with baseless assertions by APNU+AFC Parliamentarian Ganesh Mahipaul at a recent press conference, in which he is quoted as saying that the Police Force has become a national security risk. The Vice President also addressed the query by the newspaper about what it perceived as a breakdown in the anti-money laundering structure. “Then they said: How could this happen? The Anti-Money Laundering legislation and system is not working, because if it was working this would never have happened. This shows a profound ignorance of all that’s happening in the Police Force, and a profound lack of knowledge of how the Money Laundering Act works,” the Vice President said of Mahipaul’s wild declarations and the lack of awareness displayed by Stabroek News in its editorial content.
He then detailed the multi-layered nature of the system, and the fact that at some stage, any instance of irregularity or illegality will be noticed. “There are layers of safeguards, and sometimes people can breach the safeguards and the laws. That’s why you have audit reports, internal audits, then you have other departmental checks, etc. But ultimately, one of the safeguards against corruption is SOCU…and FIU. “So if you bypass one layer and you get caught at another layer, it means the system is working. You may go unnoticed for a while, but ultimately the system will pick you up. GRA is also a part of that, because if you have unusual growth in assets, these reports then get sent back for the other bodies to look at. It all works behind-the-scenes. The key thing coming out of all of this is the commitment of the Government to ensure no matter how high you are in organizations, if there is an unlawful act committed, then you will have to face the consequences.”
Dr. Jagdeo also used the opportunity to highlight the numerous positives emanating from the Guyana Police Force. “I brought with me today a massive report about all that is being done in four years to improve the system. This is in every single area…from operations to infrastructure, to procedures, legislation, training etc. It’s a massive compendium of all that is being done to improve the operations of the police force. And this is a condensed version of the report. And it points out the problems in the past and how we’re trying to fix them.” For all the vitriol, speculation and slander that has reached the eyes and ears of the people, it was reassuring to hear Dr. Jagdeo set the record straight on the trajectory of the Guyana Police Force.
Sincerely,
Mohamed Afraz Khan
