We had refrained from any commentary on the recent incident involving a sitting Minister of the Government, to allow for the police to carry out their investigation. Since the investigation has been concluded, we consider it appropriate to now do so, more especially in the light of the revised Code of Conduct for public officials that was gazetted on 13 June 2017.
On 8 July 2018, Minister in the Ministry of Natural Resources, Simona Broomes went to the New Thriving Restaurant at Providence, East Bank Demerara to purchase food. She claimed that she and her driver were verbally assaulted by two security officers who attempted to prevent her vehicle from being parked in a “No Parking” zone. The Minister alleged that one of the officers had pointed a gun at her and her driver. Fearful of her life, she reported the incident to the police who arrested, detained the officers and incarcerated them for 16 hours.
A review of the CCTV footage indicated that the Minister and her driver did not appear to take kindly to being told that the vehicle could not be parked in the specified area. The driver was seen stepping out of the vehicle and removing the signs which were put back in position by one of the officers. The Minister then exited her vehicle and began to throw the signs on the ground, and her driver moved the vehicle forward almost hitting one of officers who stood in front of it. The driver then stepped out of the vehicle again, and another exchange followed. The footage showed no evidence of any of two officers pointing a gun at the Minister or her driver.
