The Leader of the Opposition has laid a motion in the National Assembly for an inquiry to be held into the criminal violence that took place in Guyana between 2004 and 2010. According to him, this violence involved members of the security forces and unidentified criminal gangs. If only to remind us of an existing more or less universal perception of the criminal relationships that existed at that time, Stabroek News reported that: “While not named, Granger is likely referring to the rampage of the Roger Khan-led phantom gang, which has been accused of killing dozens in a campaign to help the police force rein in the unprecedented crime wave engineered by five prison escapees in 2002.”
Most Guyanese believe that either the government or important elements within the government of the day actively supported the security service/Roger Khan interventions, even if the differing communities have constructed that nexus in different ways. To Mr. Granger’s largely African constituency, that relationship is viewed not only as being highly illegal and unprofessional but also as being responsible for the death of or injury to many of their loved ones, friends and neighbours and they are most aggrieved that no positive action has been taken to ascertain the veracity of their belief and the culpability of those involved. These persons are demanding some kind of closure and must have been tormenting the Opposition Leader about opposition inactivity in this area. As such, it is understandable that he has concluded that a motion calling for an inquiry would be politically useful.
This attempt to link the regime with a phantom squad and Roger Khan is not new; neither is the demand for an inquiry into the events. The PPP/C has previously rejected all similar calls on the sure ground that while many opposition supporters may view the above nexus negatively, many in its camp have constructed it positively. Though most of them would accept that cooperation between Khan and
