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THE Ministry of Home Affairs said, yesterday, that its has taken note of a statement purportedly made by A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Leader, Mr. David Granger and reported in the Sunday Stabroek of April 7. The publication said Granger was responding to an interview given by Acting Commissioner of Police Leroy Brumell, who is reported to have said that:“We (the police) have to work with the DPP (Director of Public Prosecutions) to make the force better. We have to get ourselves in gear.”
The ministry statement quoted Granger as saying: “There is nothing in the Security Reform Plans which suggest to me that there is going to be an improvement.”
It added that Granger’s assertion must be condemned on two counts: “First, it seeks, once again, to demoralise and discredit the ranks of the Guyana Police Force (GPF). As a presidential hopeful, at the minimum, Mr. Granger should have cast his lot in support of the GPF in their efforts to overcome their shortcomings. Instead, Mr. Granger chose, once again, to do exactly the opposite, to denigrate the efforts of the GPF and to shun their efforts to provide a better service to the people of Guyana.”
“Secondly, Mr. Granger’s statement is reminiscent of an earlier statement made by him as reported by Demerara Waves on November 16, 2012, when, commenting on a public statement made by the Commissioner of Police (ag) Leroy Brumell, in support of the Minister of Home Affairs, he said: “It is quite reprehensible. I don’t think it is right to do that, if he (Brumell) wants to pledge support, why don’t he go to the police officers and give them a little ballot paper and ask them to vote if they want him (Rohee) to go. I am sure he (Brumell) will not publish the result.”
The ministry said: “If this was the modus operandi practised by the PNC (People’s National Congress) during their 28 years of maladministration, when the army’s leadership was under the political leadership of men like David Granger and when party loyalty was pledged to the government of the day, then, unlike that era which came to an end in 1992, Mr. Granger must know that such practices, whereby internal balloting within the Disciplined Services was apparently a norm to determine party loyalty, is now no longer practised under the PPP/C (People’s Progressive Party/Civic) Administration.
“We must fight against any attempt to divide the ranks of the Guyana Police Force along political lines and to maintain the integrity and professionalism of the organisation,” the ministry urged.
The ministry statement quoted Granger as saying: “There is nothing in the Security Reform Plans which suggest to me that there is going to be an improvement.”
It added that Granger’s assertion must be condemned on two counts: “First, it seeks, once again, to demoralise and discredit the ranks of the Guyana Police Force (GPF). As a presidential hopeful, at the minimum, Mr. Granger should have cast his lot in support of the GPF in their efforts to overcome their shortcomings. Instead, Mr. Granger chose, once again, to do exactly the opposite, to denigrate the efforts of the GPF and to shun their efforts to provide a better service to the people of Guyana.”
“Secondly, Mr. Granger’s statement is reminiscent of an earlier statement made by him as reported by Demerara Waves on November 16, 2012, when, commenting on a public statement made by the Commissioner of Police (ag) Leroy Brumell, in support of the Minister of Home Affairs, he said: “It is quite reprehensible. I don’t think it is right to do that, if he (Brumell) wants to pledge support, why don’t he go to the police officers and give them a little ballot paper and ask them to vote if they want him (Rohee) to go. I am sure he (Brumell) will not publish the result.”
The ministry said: “If this was the modus operandi practised by the PNC (People’s National Congress) during their 28 years of maladministration, when the army’s leadership was under the political leadership of men like David Granger and when party loyalty was pledged to the government of the day, then, unlike that era which came to an end in 1992, Mr. Granger must know that such practices, whereby internal balloting within the Disciplined Services was apparently a norm to determine party loyalty, is now no longer practised under the PPP/C (People’s Progressive Party/Civic) Administration.
“We must fight against any attempt to divide the ranks of the Guyana Police Force along political lines and to maintain the integrity and professionalism of the organisation,” the ministry urged.
