Dear Editor,
I WAS not surprised after I read the article in the Kaieteur News (KN) on April 19th, 2017, captioned: “Jagdeo says no to polygraph test” and learned that former President and now Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, Bharat Jagdeo, sought to escape from participating in the open challenge issued to him by CEO of the State Asset Recovery Unit (SARU), Mr. Aubrey Heath-Retemyer.

It will be recalled that Mr. Retemyer, in replying to one of Jagdeo’s diatribes against members of SARU, challenged Jagdeo to make himself (along with Retemyer) available for a polygraph test to see who is the more credible person in their utterances on matters of public interest and importance. I must admit that I experienced much amusement at the antics of Jagdeo when he was confronted with Retemyer’s challenge. Jagdeo, astute politician that he is, was fully aware that Retemyer was forcing him into a credibility contest. Without saying so, he knew that the results of this contest would have put him in extremely bad light and, like the proverbial coward he is, he chose the coward’s way out. After denying the need for the polygraph test with Retemyer and in a desperate effort to save his face, he then called for a polygraph test with President David Granger.

The controversy between Retemyer and Jagdeo has its genesis in an E-Governance operation that retrieved computers from the Enmore-Hope NDC to prevent them from being sold to a high official of the NDC in violation of the terms of the agreement on which they were given to the NDC by an agency of the Guyana Governmnent, the Basic Needs Trust Fund (BNTF). That operation was carried out in the presence of members of SARU and residents of the Enmore-Hope community and only took place after a member of the NDC had reported that the computers, which were donated for a specific purpose i.e. to conduct a training programme for young people in the community of Enmore-Hope, was not being used for the intended purpose and was about to be sold to the official of the NDC.

Jagdeo and the PPP deemed the retrieval of the computers as politically motivated and unlawful. When faced with irrefutable evidence that the NDC had taken a decision to sell the computers, Jagdeo responded in his usual obnoxious style by cussing out SARU officials and accusing them of corruption. This drew a sharp reaction from SARU’s CEO who defended his unit and referred to Jagdeo’s allegations as outright lies.
In an article in the KN on Friday, April 14, 2017, captioned “SARU CEO to Jagdeo… I’m willing to take a polygraph test…are you?” Mr. Retemyer is quoted as saying, “… he can account for every penny he has and he is willing to have an international firm conduct the exercise.” He then challenged “Jagdeo to submit himself to the test if he has nothing to hide.”

From all appearances unlike Retemyer, the PPP leader seems to have a lot to hide. Retemyer’s challenge calling out Jagdeo was appropriate, since the issue surrounding the computers and Jagdeo’s accusations against SARU officials, as I pointed out above, raised questions of credibility. In normal circumstances, this issue would be a straightforward matter, which would be resolved on the basis of the evidence. Not so for Jagdeo and the PPP. For them evidence don’t matter, every issue is partisan and must be exploited politically. Lies, deception and character assassination are their tools of choice. To realize this objective, Jagdeo shamelessly invented the malicious and false accusation that SARU officials are shaking down businessmen and that their personal bank accounts have swollen with cash. This line of attack is consistent with the above approach.

In political and diplomatic circles at home and abroad, Jagdeo, when he was President, had developed a formidable repetition as a pathological liar. A person with such a character is unlikely to pass a polygraph test anywhere on this planet. No one is more aware of this fact than Bharrat Jagdeo. To cover his nakedness after being exposed, he, in a vulgar way, invoked the question of rank and superiority, claiming he was President and Retemyer is not his equal.

It is an incontestable fact that in the discourse between them, Retemyer has struck Jagdeo a mortal blow, in the process forcing him to bow out in disgrace. Despite his public antics, Jagdeo is aware that time is running out and SARA will, inevitably, become reality and his talk of SARU not being a legal entity will be a thing of the past. Sooner, rather than later, the nation and the world will have evidence of Jagdeo and the PPP government’s rape of the country’s wealth. Then it will become clearer to everyone why Jagdeo could not accept Retemyer’s challenge to expose himself to a polygraph test.

Regards
Tacuma Ogunseye