Dear Editor,
I write to respond to statements purportedly made by Mr David Granger in respect to my role vis-à-vis the Guyana Police Force.
I wish to point out from the outset that I never did ask Mr Granger for any advice about what to do or what not to do in my role as Minister of Home Affairs. If ever I need advice on how to execute my functions on a particular issue under my purview I know exactly where to go and who to consult with, but it certainly would not be Mr Granger or any of his cohorts in the APNU.
Mr Granger has twenty-six MPs to guide and advise and he should spend his time doing just that as opposition leader while it lasts. Mr Granger is now a politician in the opposition, and he needs to avoid being reckless offering advice to another politician serving as a government minister. Mr Granger is free to proffer his opinion publicly, but so am I.
However, there is a certain bunch of people in and out of Guyana who are of the mistaken view that they and only they have a right to comment on the performance of the PPP/C administration. As far as they are concerned, we, who are in government must keep our mouths shut, our hands in our pockets and accept whatever they say as gospel truth. Any response on our part is deemed arrogant, disrespectful and a ‘denial’ of their right to comment on matters pertaining to the PPP/C’s governance of our country.
It would be of interest to know whether the opinion offered by Mr Granger in respect of Mr Ramnarine’s unprofessional behaviour is the type of opinion he would have laid at the desk of Mr Burnham or Mr Hoyte. I shudder to imagine the response he would have received from his two erstwhile leaders knowing full well the nature of the regime that existed in those days. I know what I am talking about since I lived through those dark days and so did Mr Granger. But there was a fundamental difference; for me it was terror and fear while for Mr Granger it must have been a bed of roses – (shades of Karen DeSouza’s ‘King on Trial‘).
For Mr Granger and his ilk inside and outside the APNU to glorify and put on a pedestal a man who openly and unashamedly proclaimed to the people of Guyana that he “never received a blind cent,“ only to have this claim exposed as a falsehood when a cheque was produced showing that the same man did receive $320,000 is a shame and disgrace. Yet, the usual suspects are all prepared to overlook this big lie and gallop full speed ahead like modern-day Don Quixotes.
For Mr Granger and all those who have joined the bandwagon to support the view that nothing is wrong with a flagrant violation of the Standing Orders of the Guyana Police Force and the Police (Discipline) Act is to beg the question whether he Mr Granger would have condoned a breach of the Guyana Defence Force Standing Orders by men under his command at the time when he was an active member of the military.
The lawlessness which Mr Granger and his parliamentary colleagues seem to be encouraging from outside the Guyana Police Force (GPF) will be rejected.
I remain of the firm view that in a disciplined organization the established rules must be followed by all without exception. In the GPF these rules are to be found in the Standing Orders of the Guyana Police Force and the Police (Discipline) Act Chap: 17:01.
And by the way talking about “interference,“ however you turn it or twist it, the buck stops with the Minister, Mr Granger!
To call openly for the ransacking of these very rules is unacceptable and tantamount to a call for indiscipline and mutinous behaviour in the Guyana Police Force, an act that would no doubt serve the sinister interests of the joint opposition and all those who follow the leader irrespective of the irresponsible position he has adopted.
Yours faithfully,
Clement J Rohee
Minister
