OPINION: Minister Benn spoke truths; a nonpartisan solution now only viable one

Last Updated on Thursday, 18 July 2024, 20:49 by Writer

by GHK Lall

I deal with the ‘ruff’ stuff, as usual, and in this instance, Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn. What others bypass, as usual, I dive into, head-on. I am as one with Minister Benn breaking his peace and blasting away at the Guyana Police Force (police), at the “endemic corruption, unprofessional conduct, and abysmal service standards” (Home Affairs Minister Benn lambasts Police Force, sparking debate on reform, political interference”, Village Voice News, July 18, 2024). Sure, he speaks from a political position, but those do represent what Guyanese deal with frequently, if not daily and hourly, in exchanges with the police. It would be helpful to hear from one Guyanese who thinks differently of the police, holds them in a different light. Minister Benn had earned a reputation as a feared ‘demolition man’, and he just retrieved that recently concealed part of his persona and modus operandi to denounce and demolish what goes on in the police. I think that it is urgently needed, can’t be avoided.

Reality check: what is the level of confidence generated in citizens by the police? Now chew on this answer: unless a card-carrying member of the PPP Kremlin, or a deep-pocketed and deeply connected citizen, trust and respect have been low and reaching for lower levels. The few good men and women in the police are overshadowed and overwhelmed by the practices of the follies, failures, and farces of colleagues, at their levels and above. The higher one goes, the rawer could be the result. On the head of a pin, frauds; on a button, the sum of the corruptions of which the honorable minister blew so much steam, so scornfully, and with so much intensity. Is it not, in the summary of the picture painted by Minister Benn, not precisely as he presented? My question, with a bit of the challenging that was originally thrown in, still stands: who among Guyanese trusts the police, thinks the best of them, other than a few known, proven professionals, luminous men and women of principle? Who in Guyana, other than the president and his illustrious band of law-abiding comrades, do not brace themselves subconsciously when the long arm of the law is outstretched, like a claw? Who does not wonder what it will be this time, when the longer teeth of law enforcement bite deeply, then still deeper like a fang, that knows not any limit, any level?

Of this let there be no mistake: Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn is as political as they come, more politburo inclined than the best (or worst) in his beloved PPP. He may be due, if not overdue, a medal for his devotion to the cause. Just as surely, there should be no doubt that the alleged political interference and control of the police are so pervasive and blatant that they have spiraled into issues beyond discussion and dispute. In other words, the interference in and dominance of the police by the PPP Government are accepted facts of life in Guyana. Minister Benn has had his role to play in those regards. He has done them well, I may add.

What I read and absorbed, however, was the minister speaking to less of the political at that 185^th anniversary gathering, and very much to the operational. Though I frown sharply at the former (political), the operational input of the minister finds a welcoming handshake here. It would be inspiring to hear other ministers, the two top leaders in the ruling clique, speak with such powerful clarity on their portfolios. The unambiguous words do not have anything of a poseur about them. They speak to the truths of Guyanese reality, both inside the police force and in the mean streets and offroad spots of Guyana where a certain kind of business is transacted. In agreeing with Minister Benn’s unsentimental, unvarnished, and unsparing statement(s), due recognition is given to the “delicate balance” between police administration and police operational independence and seeming political intrusions and the damage that they can inflict.

Separately, and on a personal note, I nod in full agreement to the concern about the PPP Government’s “weaponizing” of the police either to harass or to cow into silence those it considers to be non-supporters and opponents and just plain parasites and undesirables. I can attest as an object of that weaponizing practice, which goes on to this day. It is detectable, no matter how disguised, and it is also noteworthy for the time and expense committed to do so on an around-the-clock basis. Here is a piece of intelligence for the new head of Special Branch: those heavily tinted, black vehicles with lights off and parked for long hours with occupants are conspicuous for those who know what to look for, how to interpret. The evidence of their presence has crossed Guyana’s borders.

To close this out, I accept that a nonpartisan approach is the only workable solution. It is the vital next step that is normally avoided. But if the leading national law enforcement institution in Guyana is ever to be given a chance to rise out of the ashes where it is now trapped and incinerated by a thousand burns, the nonpartisan it must be. Too much government involvement now and before has paralyzed professional police administrators. It is way past the time for police operations to emerge above the shadows of political meddling and the mangling hands of politicians. Nonpartisan oversight for the Guyana Police Force would result in political creatures studying one another instead of stalking and stifling the police, seeking to intimidate law-abiding citizens. This is what has, in no small measure, helped the police to deteriorate to the deplorable state in which it finds itself today.