Last Updated on Wednesday, 28 October 2026, 6:34 by Written By Denis Chabrol
By GHK Lall
Mr. Azruddin Mohamed must, of necessity, come to a hard stop. He is Guyana’s Leader of the Opposition, not the leader of a rat pack. He is a crucial component of the machinery that makes laws in Guyana. Therefore, he cannot be numbered among the ranks that break the law in Guyana, from the appearance of what happened. As connecting the dots seems to suggest.
Whatever Mr. Mohamed did before, however he operated, he should discard any idea that he still has that kind of immunity. In his new environment, he so much as blinks and he sinks. In his new role, whatever fancies he may have of himself as a freewheeler and a political mercenary with honorable in front of his name, it is imperative that sobriety and maturity hit home quickly. The reports are of a tape in hand, a rank with plenty of new cash in hand and, once again, the government has the controlling hand. For sure, he has much to prove, and is fighting for his life. Not just the political one. In the next instance, there is only one way to go about these challenges, and it must be the right way. No ifs, ands, or buts, Mr. Mohamed has to be of the straight way. Purer than pure. He either gets that in his head, or he loses his head.
Because if he can be so recklessly adventurous, as Leader of the Opposition, as alleged, and with a gun pointed at his head, then there is no telling how much more he may be willing to risk as the head of this country. Aside from its misleading narratives and mishandling of the national oil patrimony, the biggest black eye on the PPP Govt is corruption. Both eyes to be precise, for it’s that bad. No intro should be needed on what has been done to the Guyana Police Force. A bastion of lawlessness while so-called bright government men prattle about what is law and who is lawful and how lawlessness has no place. Switch back to Mr. Mohamed, currently Hon Leader of the Opposition. If his hand is in the improper release of those surveillance tapes on his Kitty encounter, then how far could he be prepared to go as head of government, to get his way. Or to get those who stand in his way, out of the way. It is not the logic of political science; it is the wisdom of commonsense.
Guyanese are clamouring for change. But from what to what? From forces of darkness of known sleaziness to a new force for darkness of a dirtier kind. It could be that Mr. Mohamed, having grown accustomed to the advantages of taking the circular path between two points, is loathe to let go of that outlook on life. He sees that as his first option to solve the difficult developments in life. Cut a corner to gain yardage. Like who shot at whom? Who shot first? Who shot from the cover of dark, but now tries to hides that fact under more layers of darkness? Mr. Mohamed, be he the Leader of the Opposition, or the chief governor, or a common citizen, has to grow to know the just way. He learns to take it and work with it, in spite of all of its restraints and the handicaps that it places on those who chart that type of course. Or he learns not at all, is useless to Guyanese.
A law abider is not a thrill seeker. A Leader of the Opposition is not a 9 to 5 job, then clocking out, and donning the robes of a night stalker. One misjudgment brought him to what looks like within an inch of losing his life. A follow-up mistake of seemingly unlawful proportions draws him closer to losing his freedom. Again. His head cannot be this hard. Nor his ego this molded in stone. Rushed judgment and rushed justice leave all Guyana locked in the same lost place. Guyanese have had 60 years or more to find themselves, to chart a new path. Mountains may not move. Men do. Yet, given this business about gunshots in the night, and surveillance tapes obtained and displayed, confirms that not one damn inch of clean territory has been gained.
Lawlessness is not overcome by more of what is unlawful. Nor is enduring betterment had when the same instincts for the shortcut and the sweet and swift way are what is prized above all else. The worst thing, the last thing, that Mr. Mohamed should be about, is by his own conduct make PPP crimes look like not such a big deal after all.
