AK-47s probe silence increasingly intolerable - Luncheon admits
Stabroek News
January 19, 2007
Secretary to the Defence Board, Dr. Roger Luncheon yesterday publicly apologized for an inability to explain to the Guyanese populace the status of the investigations into the army's missing AK-47s.
But he was not able to say whether indeed the army was preparing to court- martial any top-ranking officials as had been stated in a number of reports in Stabroek News and other sections of the media.
The army acknowledged losing 30 AK-47s and five handguns from its headquarters in March last year but to date no one has been charged.
Responding to a query as to why both the government and the army have been tight-lipped on the recent media reports on the issue, Luncheon acknowledged that this would have defence board implications but noted that the authorities were not in a position to proceed with a comprehensive report to the public.
"I could only apologize because this is indeed increasingly an intolerable situation, and as such I am asking the public to bear with us as we work along with the relevant agencies to recover the still missing weapons," Luncheon, also Head of the Presidential Secretariat, said.
"We have been unable to come to the Guyanese people and say where we are in terms of the investigation into the disappearance of the weapons and the efforts in identifying those involved and recovery of the other weapons," he conceded.
The Defence Board secretary noted, too, an inability to bring closure and identify those who are responsible for this act and to recover the other weapons which he said could be seen as an indictment of the way the army has been discharging its responsibility to Guyanese.
"What we can be assured of is the statements that have been made periodically by the responsible authorities in the defence force," he noted. In this vein he pointed to efforts by Chief of Staff, Brigadier General Edward Collins in registering the army's condemnation of the AKs theft and making clear what their intentions are.
Sections of the media had quoted the army chief as saying that the army was preparing to court-martial some of its officers.
Stabroek News was also privy to information which indicated that following new leads on the startling disappearance a key decision was pending from the authorities relating to a senior GDF official.
The source had said too that new intelligence information pointed in the direction of the official. That source revealed too that as a result a decision may also be made shortly to send the senior army official on leave pending a full investigation or a possible interdiction and signs of this could come as early as this week.
The new leads relate, the source had said, to information on where three of the missing weapons were found and that this information would likely be addressed by officials at the level of the Defence Board and higher. The sources point out that there is a risk that handling the information within the ambit of the GDF probe could lead to the compromising of the investigation.
This has spurred much speculation and uneasiness since it is unclear who else might have been involved in the conspiracy in the theft of the weapons. Stabroek News also learnt too that that the weeks-old revelations had forced the convening of a series of emergency meetings. However, the sources said, investigations are still continuing.
Investigations to date, the source said, have uncovered also that information and intelligence were supplied to investigators in such a way as to throw them off the trail.