Crisis of circumstances or full flown crisis

Sep 17, 2024 Features / Columnists, The GHK Lall Column

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Hard Truths by GHK Lall

Kaieteur News – To assert that the Guyana Police Force (Force) is struggling with a crisis of circumstances qualifies to be an understatement.  To table that the Force is in the center of a full-blown crisis may not be an overstatement at all.  In my role as thankless messenger, I bring to fellow citizens from the first one to the lowest, those two hard truths.  There are other hard truths that evidence how the Force from Commissioner to junior constable are being battered by unrelenting storms.  The jagged rocks are too close, the shoreline non-existent, more a product of fevered thinking.  Hard Truth number eight, with the slots before that easily filled.  If this is anti-Ali, anti-Jagdeo, anti-PPP, or anti-Police, then that is how hard truths get distorted in this country.  In the interest of civility, I urge the pristine president, the vibrant vice president to shed the reluctance.  To avoid the harshness of stridency, reluctance was chosen, and not resistance.

Fact 1: Matthews Ridge: did any Guyanese see any member of the Force at the time when immense matters were being uncovered?  The face of even one junior grade corporal could have helped the Force to wash its face, save some of it.  And when the Top Cop took a copper: ‘I saw something in the media….’  Then the bottom rushed up to deliver a crack to the knee.  Yet in a jiffy, before the count could reach to three, the Commander of that Region One island of intrigue and powdered intoxicants found himself the officer-in-charge of crankshafts, catalytic converters, and carburetors.  I think it is just a matter of coincidence, for which the Force brass found the best protective personal equipment.  Rotation, it is.  Fellow Guyanese, my head is spinning.  Because when a passing review is attempted for other developments in the Force, there are some other facts that drive bananas.

Fact 2: Whoever is not rotated out and around is rotated into the temporary safe harbor of annual leave.  From the East Coast Demerara to Eve Leary; others depart under a cloud, and in haste, from Eve Leary to Essex, England, or some other enchanted isle to contemplate their next move.  When I can help it, I give people the dignity of their names not mentioned; the police record that has seeped into public eyesight does that dirty job for me.  The fact is that the rotations in the Force have taken on a life of their own, and so much so that it must be causing serious head spinning within this most pivotal of state entities in Guyana. 0f course, I am taking the liberty of thinking that honest policing still counts.  When there is some much rotation, there is a lack of continuity, a dilution of leadership vision and strategy, and the strikes at efficiency and esprit de corps, so vital in any national crime fighting force.  Rotations at such heights are the equivalent of the City Council patching holes.  They crack before long, or cave-in when weight is applied. With Minister Benn’s clearance, I interpret these rotations of senior officers as tantamount to marriages that are rocky, and with one last ditch effort made to salvage the situation: buying time through counseling.  The sad reality of that in Guyana is that, too often, people end up in coffins.  I commend the trying.  But sometimes, the cord just must be cut.  If only for the betterment of the Guyana Police Force, if only for the good of Guyanese.  If only for the appearance and substance of accountable governance.  It is not necessarily in that order, and re the latter what is so prized by Excellency Ali.

Fact 3: now that I have rolled out the red carpet for the president, I blow the trumpets and shine the spotlight on his majestic presence.  We are going to break the back of the networks.  With respect, Mr. Excellency: with what?  With whom, commander-in-chief?  With whom from where with what prowess, trust?  The fact that the American authorities spearheading that mission to Matthews Ridge went to such great lengths to exclude even a token Force presence emphasizes to me that whatever President Ali is going to break, he will have to do it with straw.  I agree with the president that flashing energy and thundering postures have their power.  But like the GPL, there comes that time when realities on the ground (in the Force) smash head-on into the cascade of words and make dog meat of all that is said so loudly, and a bit hilariously.  In the spirit of this writing, I take that back: hilariously is replaced by unrealistically.  Sometimes, it is better not to speak at all.  I suggest that President Ali consult with Presidents Ramotar and Jagdeo.  President Granger could share his book on the power of silence, and the peace of mind it enables, the reputation that could be gained.  Here is a piece of homegrown wisdom for my president: when leaders don’t speak as much, others attach virtues and strengths that may not be merited.  On the other hand, open mouth and let loose, and the floor of public assessment collapses.

Fact 4: from the high command to the highways, the Force grapples with its record, its rogues, and its wrenching deficits, dislocations.  A political remedy makes matters worse.  An organizational plaster here and there peel off and put Guyanese in jeopardy.  Honest presences, ethical insights, and incorruptible visions would all be of incomparable and unprecedented utility to the Guyana Police Force.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

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