Much has been and written and said in both the print and electronic media on the failure of officers of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) to request from Mr George Bacchus a statement on his allegation linking Minister of Home Affairs, Mr Ronald Gajraj to the notorious phantom death squad at the time he gave his statement on those persons charged with murder for his brother's death. Is this a realistic expectation given the known history of government interference in the work of the GPF?
This concern and criticism of the police is understandable and necessary in our attempt to have justice for those killed, and to expose those guilty of state sponsored killings to the world. Given the present political reality in the country, there is no officer in the police force including acting Police Commissioner, Mr Floyd Mc Donald, who would, on their own initiative, open an investigation on their political bosses. To expect the police to have capitalized on Bacchus' previous visit to the station is wishful thinking. We have to make the painful distinction between what ought to be and what is. Ours is not a democracy that respects the rule of law when dealing with matters that the rulers deem to be in their interest.
It is not by accident that it took almost two weeks before acting Commissioner Mc Donald made a public statement calling on Bacchus to come forward with a statement on Minister Gajraj's involvement with the phantom killers.
This came only after a public outcry of citizens, the political opposition and a number of other organisations. Until political interference is removed from the work of the GPF, citizens should not expect anything other than presently exists from the GPF when it has to deal with matters involving the rulers and those who the rulers choose to protect.
The ruling party's Central Committee at its meeting on Sunday February1, 2004, endorsed the government's handling of the Gajraj affair. In doing so the PPP has signaled to the nation and the international community its resolve to, if necessary, be a renegade member of the international community. The rulers have made a conscious decision to turn the present crisis into a life and death battle for the right to rule at any cost.
They are already accusing the political opposition of being in a conspiracy to remove the government from office. The PPP/C's leadership is playing the boy and wolf game.
They are shouting wolf when there is no wolf. In doing so the PPP/C may unintentionally be preparing its own demise. Let us as a nation exorcise all "angels of death" in our nation.