Commission of Inquiry to probe if police neglected or failed to investigate plot to kill Granger

Last Updated on Tuesday, 11 July 2017, 19:22 by Denis Chabrol

The Guyana Police Force (GPF) will over the next several weeks come under intense scrutiny over whether the law enforcement agency did enough to probe reports and allegations of a threat to assassinate President David Granger.

Heading the Commission of Inquiry is Assistant Commissioner of Police, Paul Slowe who has been tasked with, among other things, to ascertain if the police had information about the plot before and what they did after receiving such information.

“The Commission will review all actions taken by the Guyana Police Force and examine whether there was evidence failure, neglect or omission to thoroughly or properly investigate the intention or plan to assassinate the President and determine whether such failure or omission was intentional,” states the terms of reference.

Slowe has until August 18, 2017 or any other agreed date to submit his report to the President.

The Commission of Inquiry will also seek to determine whether any person and, in particular, officers of the Guyana Police Force had any information before and after reports were made of the plan to assassinate the President and whether any such officers communicated that information to a superior authority,” the Terms of Reference for Slowe state.

Slowe was sworn in Tuesday before Chief Magistrate, Ann Mc Lennan in accordance with his appointment by President Granger “to inquire into the persons, places, time circumstances and events by and through which allegations came to be made of an intention or a plan to assassinate the President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana” and to report his findings and recommendations to the Guyanese leader.

The Commissioner of Inquiry, who will be assisted by five other persons, has also been tasked to investigate and review the full range of the Guyana Police Force’s actions and responses to the reports and the extent to which such actions were conducted or executed with due diligence.

The Commission of Inquiry also has to report what official action was taken by the police force after it received information and whether there was due diligence on the part of the Guyana Police Force officers or persons involved in the investigation and recommend actions to be taken against those found blameworthy.

The Retired Assistant Commissioner of Police will not only determine who should be blamed, but also actions to be taken against them as well as recommend steps that can be taken to prevent such a recurrence . Slowe also has been asked to identify systemic issues, if any, in the Guyana Police Force’s competence to investigate matters of this nature.