OPINION: Pres Ali speaks for Min Waldron: she must speak for self

Last Updated on Tuesday, 21 April 2026, 6:47 by Denis Chabrol

By GHK Lall

For those who would believe, I have always held Excellency Irfaan Ali in special regard.  For those taken aback, I hasten to add that there was some remodeling of ‘special’ and ‘regard’ for the president.  Only fitting, I submit; fitting for a leader of his, ah, prowess.  Pres. Ali was all reassurance, with a hint of his usual verbal corpulence.  He is worth a listen, if only to gather insights on what makes him tick, offer such spirited, almost blanket, defenses of his troops, as he has done before.  “The minister has grown children.  One of her kids was involved in an accident.  The minister has not intervened in any way.”  Thanks, Excellency Irfaan (hopefully no penalty for liberty taken).  Comforting that the Honorable Minister Oneidge is such a paragon of parental toughness.  Inspiring to have such a model of political rigidness, such a towering figure where police protocol and a spotless law-abiding profile are in highest demand.  Helpful, Mr. Pres, truly confidence-inducing.  Still, Minister Oneidge Walrond is a grown adult, should have been the first one to comment, both for ministerial portfolio and personal reasons.

Let the police do its work.  Let politics not play a part.  Let neither president nor minister be doubted in touchy circumstances; occasions that rub nerves like sandpaper on a sore.  Guyana is on the march; forward not backward nor sideways.  Whoever said that Guyana under Pres. Ali has transformed into a buccaneer’s cove should be jailed, with the keys buried.  There are laws.  There is the Guyana Police Force to give life to them.  And there’s Excellency Irfaan to see to it that there is neither seeking of special favors nor breaches by law enforcement get on the ticklish side.  For example, when a minister’s grown child is involved.  For example, when a president bubbles over enthusiastically, describes a minister’s offspring as “grown children” in one sentence, and in the next, speak of “one of her kids.”  From grown children to one of her kids in the space of a sentence indicates one of two things.  A downward trajectory was in play, then took over since boys will be boys, and oats have to be sown, regardless of how well along in years.  I myself have some of those flipflops, occasionally, so there’s empathy.  Or, it could be that Excellency Irfaan is now so accustomed to dealing with Americans that expressions like kids flow from him effortlessly, reflexively.  Imagine how far the man from Leonora has traveled.  Study how his vocabulary has improved, with much help from a Burnham Era Guyanese ancient exhumed and embedded in the Office of the President.

All this is to Pres. Ali’s credit.  But where is the Guyana Police?  Any word from the Traffic Chief?  What about that nifty, shifty Police Communications Unit?  Why the air traffic control stillness a week after an accident that lists Minister Oneidge’s son as an alleged party?  It is encouraging that there are no reports of injury, other than the ones allegedly inflicted upon Guyanese taxpayers.  Nevertheless, I am taking Pres. Ali seriously: the police are the “best persons” and he committed to have the Traffic Chief “give clarity.”  Since he is a leader doing a million things at once, the president could be pardoned for probably sending his directive, message, or position to the Traffic Chief via the Post Office, and forgot the telephone (WhatsApp) and email.  Did the Mohamed Lamborghini affair make him WhatsApp shy?

The issue before Guyanese-presidential inquiry or not, ministerial intervention or abstinence-centers on where is the Police and why is it having a case of the cramps?  Curiously, it seems that this only develops on occasions when certain citizens are involved, and always in law-diluting situations.  Note that I haven’t mentioned the name Heeralall at all.  Guyanese should note also how much I trust Pres Ali.  Please don’t seek any details on what and to what degree.  The president has earned it, but it may not be in the way that Guyanese think, or as he hopes.