The Lord’s gift to man
OUR Father in Heaven gave to mankind his dearly beloved son – to wash away the sins of man, and to give mankind hope for the perpetuation of his own soul; that was the gift of the most loving Father on high. And what do we do on a daily basis? We squander that gift because of ill-will towards each other fuelled by various agendas inimical to all that the Lord Jesus propagated in his teachings while on earth: Indeed, to all that every great religion teaches.
One woman with a public profile was relating a story where she had angered an aspiring president of this country by exposing publicly the fact that he had robbed her – a struggling single mother, of a substantial amount of money at a time when her young children were attending prestigious high schools. Her inability to provide decent school attire for them during this critical period of their growth made them the butt of the jokes of their peers (and everyone knows how cruel teenagers can be to each other) caused her brilliant daughter to play truant nearly every day while she was at work for long hours, until she dropped out of school altogether.
Not content, he took revenge on her for spoiling his political opportunities by spreading false rumours about her then, as if that was not enough, knowing her compassionate nature, he sent a young couple to ask her for sanctuary. They beat her and put her out of her own house, then joined with neighbours to strip it to furnish their own. When she went to make a report to the police, the groundwork had already been laid to charge the woman for theft – a woman who, despite her difficult circumstances, had never stolen anything in her life.
In an ongoing struggle for power, politicians daily demonize and witch-hunt public figures to further their own agendas in their bid for power and toward their self-aggrandizement.
Their grandstanding and ostensible caring for “victims” has no credibility because of the duplicity of their actions, in that they only show concern when their political axes are being ground; and they show no mercy to their targeted victims.
A case in point is the contradictory nature of Guyana’s opposition collective’s protests over two legal imbroglios of recent times – one involving the Commissioner of Police, Henry Greene, and the other involving three persons accused of treason against the State.
Any semi-intelligent person who is knowledgeable about Guyana’s political landscape is aware that there has been a relentless campaign against Greene because the Government trusts and supports him on the basis that he has largely encouraged ranks to ignore opposition calls for “kith and kin” support in their many bids to rampage in the city, especially after successive elections since 1992.
After the administration’s experience with Winston Felix and other high-ranking officers in the joint services, who allegedly supported the opposition’s many attempts to overthrow the legitimately elected PPP/C Government, especially after every general election, they are wary of the prospects for senior positions in the joint services. The taped telephone conversation between persons whose voices sounded like then PNC Chairman, Basil Williams and Felix, where the former was thanking the then Commissioner of Police for his intercession in the murderous Agricola gun rampage, where several persons were killed, gives the administration real cause for concern on the issue of trust of senior joint services functionaries.
Former CoP Laurie Lewis, who spearheaded the professionalization of the police force post-1992, was subjected to just such a vengeful vendetta as perpetrated against Greene, until he left the service.
Anyone who studies Justice Ian Chang’s report on the rape allegation would come to the same conclusion as he did; that is, anyone who is not prejudiced or has an agenda to destroy the man’s career for their own motives.
In local parlance, Greene was “set-up” by those who have cleverly strategized to use his one admitted weakness – his love for “the girls”, to bring him down, with their weapon of preference being someone perfectly suited to that role. The subsequent hue and cry of those ostensibly seeking “justice” for the “victim” has been unrelenting; even though there was no evidence to support the accuser’s allegations.
Conversely, in the case of the release of the three treason accused, where there is a witness and other evidences to prove complicity of extremely serious charges that involves destruction of state properties, there has been a resounding silence on the part of the opposition, which had collectively agitated for their freedom, disregarding the seriousness of the charges against them.
The collective opposition had taken the same stance when a highly-popular opposition figure had been accused of multiple counts of statutory rape. They had kept candlelight vigil on behalf of the alleged perpetrator, protesting against his prosecution. That several near-babies had been violated, with offsprings resulting from these horrifying allegations, was immaterial to their agenda: and that is where their credibility is suspect, as in the instance where APNU’s presidential candidate, James Bond had been freed of assault after the complainant had been persuaded to drop the charges on the basis of “kith and kin”. Bond’s alleged criminal behaviour elicited not a whisper from the opposition cabal, certainly not like the aggressive witch-hunt when former Minister Kellawan Lall had been accused of the same charge.
Their advocacy for Greene’s matter to be taken to the courts and let due process have its way does not apply in circumstances where their own are accused of even more heinous crimes.
Greene erred when he compromised his position of power to engage in immoral acts when he should be setting exemplary standards of conduct for junior ranks, and he should resign; but not because of a highly-suspect rape allegation.
However, he has lost the respect of the nation and the trust of any female seeking his professional assistance. Also, it is apparent that this incident would demean him in the eyes of the men under his command and jeopardize the security of the country, so he should resign while he still commands some dignity.
But this ugly episode of another person who has supported the Government being brought down through relentless pillorying and witch-hunting to satisfy political agendas, all in the name of justice, is an ugly blot on the landscape of our humanity.
Rightly so, there is currently great focus on sexual offences and abuse of the vulnerable in society; but victims come in various packages and in this instance I am absolutely convinced that CoP Henry Greene is a victim; albeit one can argue that he was culpable of a moral transgression and a dereliction of his professional duties.
Those who vindictively and maliciously stone others in the society most likely live in very fragile glass houses, where their own lives cannot stand public scrutiny; but the Lord adjured those without fault to cast the first stone. From the actions and the rhetoric of the opposition collective, verily they are all saints, with no character flaws, and can boast of pristine lives.
Henry Greene has been taught a very painful lesson; and probably he deserved it if it is his habit to inveigle women into inappropriate liaisons when they seek his assistance, but it is equally immoral, as well as criminal, to lay false charges against the man.
As Minister Priya Manickchand pointed out, “…any woman who lies about being raped and any person who conspires with a woman to falsely lay a complaint of rape is an enemy to all women; and especially to those women who have been or will be raped. She and/or her conspirator(s) is/are easily giving fodder to the very harmful myth that all complainants lie about rape.”
By his actions, Police Commissioner, Henry Greene has not only hurt himself, he has also hurt his family and caused harm to the entire nation; and one can only hope that acting Commissioner of Police Leroy Brumell will serve the State with the requisite commitment and patriotism, not to mention the moral rectitude that is so necessary to the maintenance of discipline in any military or para-military organization.
And one can only hope that Guyanese can re-connect with their consciences and let truth and justice prevail above every other consideration within Guyana’s societal and political construct.
Every human being owes it to the Lord to be the best we can; and helping others up, not pulling them down, is the best way for human beings to honour The Lord’s gift to humankind.