Rohee agrees with barring Divisional Commanders from media
MINISTER of Home Affairs, Mr. Clement Rohee has defended the decision, by Police Commissioner Henry Greene, barring Divisional Commanders from speaking to the media.
The Minister told reporters, Wednesday, that some sections of the media have joined the political gimmicks and, referred, particularly, to Kaieteur News and Stabroek News. He said he has learnt that, within recent times, two editorials in the Stabroek News attacked the position adopted by Greene, with respect to Divisional Commanders not being authorised to speak to the media.
“I do not want to assume the mantle of the Commissioner of Police, but I want to speak, as the Minister on the issue. The way I see it is that there are four persons who are authorised to speak to the media,” Rohee reiterated, identifying Greene, Crime Chief Seelall Persaud, Traffic Chief Neil Semple and Police Public Relations Officer (PRO), Ivelaw Whittaker.
The Minister said any other information requested by the media will be filtered through Force Headquarters, where it will be assessed and a press release will be issued.
He said he has noticed that some sections of the media seem to be desperate in setting the security agenda for Guyana and the Government.
“We don’t have any problem with information being disseminated to the public. That is why they have a Police PRO Department, but you know what happened, people don’t want to deal with the PRO Department. They want to go behind the PRO as if it is a God given right to go directly for information and to hell with Mr. Whittaker or the Commissioner of Police,” Rohee declared.
He said that approach speaks of total chaos and disorder and urged reporters to engage in investigative journalism, rather than go to Divisional Commanders, asking them what is their take on an issue.
“So, I am of the view that this weeping and gnashing of teeth, over access to Commanders is actually based on the premise that the PRO is useless and the GPF is useless, so we don’t want to engage with people who have no use to us. They (reporters) don’t want to go through the Police PRO. They want to go Commanders, even if it creates a controversy, all the better, against the confirmation of what comes out of Force Headquarters. That is what some journalists thrive on, sad to say. So they don’t want to be cumbered by Force Headquarters or Whittaker’s outfit”, Rohee charged.
He said, as it relates to two other points made in the editorials, doing the latter will further corrupt the Force and make people sell information to the Police.
“I consider this most disrespectful. What they are actually saying here, is that the Force is the helm of corruption that they can take an envelope to anyone in the Force and corrupt that individual but I disagree with that. There maybe corrupt elements in the Force and, when we find them, we deal with them but to say, by taking this action, it will further corrupt the Force, I reject that totally,” Rohee argued.
He said the editorials added that it will make the Force retreat further from accountability and make it more unaccountable. But the Police have been issuing Press releases everyday and, from time to time, he, as well as the Police Commissioner also speak with the media. As such, he agrees with the decision by the Commissioner to restrict Divisional Commanders from speaking to the media.