Main opposition A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) yesterday led a picketing exercise outside the Office of the President (OP) as it continued to press the call for the firing of the Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee.
During a joint Alliance for Change (AFC), APNU protest in front of the Ministry of Home Affairs on Monday, members of both groups indicated that the protest would be followed up the one held yesterday at OP. The protest was triggered by the police’s fatal shooting of Dameon Belgrave last Friday night.
Yesterday, members and supporters of APNU could be seen marching back and forth outside the Vlissengen Road entrance to OP as they criticised Rohee for “poor management of the Guyana Police Force” and called on President Donald Ramotar to revoke his appointment.
Leader of the Opposition and APNU David Granger, himself a participant in the protest, insisted that the continued killings carried out by the police force are directly linked to the failure of the Home Affairs Ministry to carry out its mandate.
Reiterating statements he made on Monday, Granger stated that APNU does not recognise Clement Rohee as the Minister of Home Affairs, noting that it has withdrawn its members from all committees of which Rohee is a part in an effort to isolate the incumbent minister. A motion of no confidence in Rohee was approved by the National Assembly in July and APNU subsequently indicated that it would adopt a policy of non cooperation with regards to the minister.
Granger also questioned the government’s wisdom in the government’s refusal to implement the UK-funded Security Sector Reform Plan and slammed Rohee for his inability to come up with an effective answer to the increasingly destructive drug trade in Guyana.
According to Granger, Rohee has failed to ensure protection and security for the Guyanese people, making reference to escalated occurrences of piracy, unlawful extra judicial killings, banditry, murder as well as drugs and weapons smuggling. He stated that he was convinced that the responsibility for the escalating crime situation in Guyana rests squarely on Rohee’s shoulders and that “the country will never be safe as long as the Minister remains in his position.”
