While criticising government’s silence on the alleged involvement of Office of the President (OP) spokesman Kwame McCoy in a case of child solicitation, the main opposition PNCR yesterday called for his removal from his official post pending an investigation.

PNCR MP Amna Ally issued a call for an authentication of the recording of an illicit conversation between an adult man and a minor that has been the source of the allegations, saying that if McCoy is the person on the recording he should resign from his posts at the OP as well as on the Rights of the Child Commission.

McCoy has claimed the recording is a fabrication and filed suits against three media houses, saying they libelled him in their reports about it.

He also secured a temporary injunction against them preventing further publication of materials that suggest he is engaged in acts of child molestation. “While Mr McCoy has denied these allegations, there must be serious concern over these developments,” Ally emphasised at a news conference at Congress Place, adding that the failure of both the OP and the Minister of Human Services to act on the claims exposes the administration’s disregard for public opinion.

She said too that it is unlikely that any action will be taken without the insistence by the concerned citizens, noting that the involvement of Minister of Local Government Kellawan Lall in a shooting incident on the East Coast and the alleged involvement of the Minister of Health in facilitating, on behalf of the Government of Guyana the purchase of the “spy equipment” used here by drug trafficker Roger Khan are two examples where the government exhibited contempt for the people.

Ally said her party was urging the administration to have the voice on the recording authenticated. Further, she noted that since McCoy is not a government minister, the government would be free to employ a lie detector test as well. “In the meantime, McCoy should also step down from his position as Press Liaison to the President to facilitate an investigation into this matter,” she said, “If it transpires that the voice is indeed that of Kwame McCoy then he should resign his position from the Office of the President and that on the Rights of the Child Commission.”

Meanwhile, Ally recalled that the opposition and citizens had been opposed to McCoy’s appointment to the Rights of the Child Commission, as it was felt that he did not meet the criteria for such a sensitive and important position.