THE statements made by APNU of non-cooperation with Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee in Parliament are not coincidental. APNU has put out the option of non-cooperation with the Minister. Opposition Leader David Granger says APNU will continue to put pressure on Minister Rohee in similar fashion to what was done with former Home Affairs Minister Ronald Gajraj.
It must be remembered that during Minister Gajraj’s tenure there was the brutal crime wave in the East Coast corridor.
From April 2002, an enabling environment was created in Buxton for bandits to be granted asylum in the village. They then turned around and held their hosts hostage.
Research shows that aggressive police behaviour had so incensed the villagers that the bandits, apart from killing and robbing many innocent persons, adopted a policy of murderous retaliation against the police. As a result, more policemen than at any other time in the 170-year history of the Police Force were murdered during the troubles in 2002-2003.
Thus was Mr. Gajraj pressured and ultimately removed from his position, as admitted recently by APNU.
Today, it has been noted that criminal elements have already infiltrated the Linden community. The question now is whether the old soldier Granger would follow the path of 2002 – 2003.
APNU and AFC have already created the foundation. They are now holding the nation to ransom in a sinister move to remove law and order.
The Minister of Home Affairs has the ultimate direct authority over law enforcement activities in Guyana, and non-cooperation undermines the rule of law in the country.
Allegations are being ignited to create a political firestorm. A Presidential Commission of Inquiry is already in place to determine whether the Minister of Home Affairs, Mr Clement Rohee, has been involved in promoting, directing or otherwise passing orders that led to the death of three persons during the Linden protest.
While this is ongoing, the illegal activities originating in Linden will have developed a momentum that will continue for as long as the political opposition desires.
The new dispensation is going to be held culpable for the upsurge of criminal violence in Guyana with their determined move against the rule of law.