Dear Editor,
I have read the outpourings of Paul Slowe since his retirement parade and the accolades bestowed on him by members of the public. I now write to record another facet of this story which clearly typifies the hypocrisy of the Jagans and the consequences of their poor decisions as personified in Ronald Gajraj. However, before I do so permit me to tell an introductory anecdote about myself and Slowe.
I first encountered Slowe in 1982 at the Timehri Rifle Ranges where he led a Police Rifle Team and I led the Artillery Battalion Team in a falling plate competition. Slowe was already a veteran marksman and was held in awe by many in the Joint Services. I was a ‘just come upstart’ 2Lt competing for the very first time at that level. Both of our teams shot their way into the finals. Police had never been beaten since Slowe led that team. I received many pep talks from my superiors urging me to “beat the police.” And beat them we did. We fired 2 quick volleys and knocked all our plates down. When I looked over at the Police they had only got a few plates down. Some of the cops had not even had time to fire a shot. Slowe was stunned. It was the first time he was beaten in a competition. We never became friends but I developed ‘nuff respect’ for him over the years as I observed him on Joint Services Exercises.
My respect for Slowe was so much that prior to the 1992 elections, in a national security plan that I had prepared at Dr Jagan’s request, I had recommended him to be the new Commissioner of Police. I stated then that I did not know of Slowe’s political affiliation, but that he was a truly professional officer who would uphold the constitution and law regardless of which party was in power, and that with the aid of the UN he would reform and restructure the Police Force. I made a similar assessment of George Gomes and had recommended him to be the new Chief of Staff of the GDF. Ronald Sami was recommended to be the Commandant of the GPM. Why did I stress to Dr Jagan that Slowe would abide by the constitution and the laws of the land?
It was because the Jagans had for 28 years on a daily basis berated the PNC for politicizing all government and state agencies. They would always denounce the sworn loyalty of the police and army to the PNC. I felt then that upon coming to power after the 1992 elections Dr Jagan would cultivate a police and army that were impartial, apolitical, and loyal to the constitution and the laws of Guyana. However the Jagans, assured of political loyalty of the incumbent Commissioner of Police, kept the PNC’s status quo. The rest is history. The Police Force was allowed to degenerate into untold lawlessness to the point of some of its members taking orders from drug operatives. Not only were the Jagans hypocrites, but they had a penchant for placing incompetent persons in high office.
Instead of appointing Clinton Collymore, the PPP’s longest-serving and quite capable parliamentary spokesman on Home Affairs and Defence as the Minister of Home Affairs in 1992, the Jagans chose instead Feroze Mohamed. So incompetent was Feroze Mohamed that I was moved by way of a letter to SN in 1993 to publicly call on Dr Jagan to fire him. Eventually, after being overwhelmed by several crime waves over the years Feroze Mohamed resigned. He at least could plead ignorance and no experience as excuses for his failure, but not so Ronald Gajraj who succeeded him.
Unlike Feroze Mohamed who had spent all his years cloistered in Freedom House parroting communist doctrine, Ronald Garaj was an ex-GDF officer and a lawyer. Many felt he was competent for the job. But I knew differently and I was not surprised at the utter disgrace he brought onto himself. I am proud to say that shortly after he became Minister of Home Affairs, Ravi Dev and I met with him in the midst of another crime wave against Indians in 2000, and so disgusted was I with his bungling nature that I walked out of the meeting. That was the second time I had met Mr Gajraj.
The first time I met Mr Gajraj was in 1992 shortly before the elections. He came to my home and introduced himself. He explained that his wife was the secretary of the Hindhu Dharmic Sabha and that Pandit Reepu Daman had asked him to design a national security plan but he had no knowledge of security matters. He asked me to prepare a plan for him. I politely told him that I had already done one for Dr Jagan. Seven years later Ronald Gajraj would succeed Feroze Mohamed as the Minister of Home Affairs. By 2002 he had made no reforms to the Police Force and there was a continuing crime mess. As we now know he was issuing orders to police officers including Paul Slowe.
Paul Slowe by then was an Asst Commissioner. He was well respected for his professionalism, integrity, honesty, and personal accomplishments in the Police Force. Ronald Gajraj issued an unlawful order to Slowe who declined to obey and instead abided by the laws of the land. Paul Slowe was then victimized by non-promotion. This is the politics of the Jagans and the PPP. It was the same old politics of Burnham’s PNC. The Paul Slowe/Ronald Gajraj case should be a case study for all students of Guyana’s politics.
It clearly shows the preferred modus operandi of both the PPP and Burnham’s PNC. Both parties practised paramountcy of the party over government and state and that both parties preferred to have incompetent subservient officials in their employ rather than capable and righteous men. The Jagans and the PPP Executive Committee of 1992 must be held responsible for the lawlessness that now prevails in Guyana. They placed their narrow personal and party interests above that of Guyana’s and we have seen how it led to social decay since then.
Yours faithfully,
Malcolm Harripaul
