Dear Editor,
Interested in accountability? There’s a guarantee. Excellency Ali delivered that commitment six years ago. Given that span, accountability in national institutions, in government and leadership, should be well-refined. It is. But in the wrong direction. For there is the cry and call for accountability in the matter of a rape allegedly by a senior police officer, and this is what it looks like. Silence. Distance. Wait a week. Then the trailer of the bizarre in the making. A minister taking the bit between her teeth, and left with reddened lips. It’s not lipstick.
Here’s a Common Entrance level question. A poor man, a labourer, an unconnected citizen is named as the perpetrator of a felony, do the Police rush into action? True or False. Beginning and ending of test. From the textbook and classroom to the thoroughfares of real life. A senior police officer is alleged by the victim to be her attacker. What happens? The wheels of justice are drained of energy. The guardians of justice and fairness-what’s due to all parties in a sordid development-all fall silent, are suddenly busy with other challenges. Phone calls not answered, not returned. WhatsApp questions ignored, as though to answer would give away too much, maybe improperly jeopardize the interests of the accused. Point taken.
But there is a victim, as claimed. There is a process that should have kicked into high gear. After all the training delivered, all the solemn oaths sworn, all the broadcasts of how much has been done, and how much progress has been made, this cannot be where Guyana is. Where the Guyana Police Force is. Where the Guyana Government is.
Why is it that so many things that have crime written across their faces have to diminish to the weak, to the walking back of leadership guarantees, and to the wretched left hanging in the wind? There is no intention of pronouncing on guilt or innocence in this rape allegation. Too many unknowns. Too many layers. My sole interest is in consistent standards. Go back to the one-question Common Entrance test. What goes for Guyanese peasant must also go for the PPP aristocracy. One exception would be too many. One dodge, one delay, one double-dealing, one doubletalk would be fatal. Opens the door to every disbelief and rejection, no matter how clean and pristine.
Guyana is a country with a constitution and sacred rights. Or it is a criminal construct; one subject to the cleverness of the crafty, sinister, and sick. Where smaller citizens-workers, women, wretched-are seen as prey by predators. Those wearing suits. Those who may be uniformed or not. When government circles the wagons with silence and haze, it leaves its behind exposed, and gathers mud on its face.
The victim is entitled to protection and peace of mind. Justice is being pursued; the law followed. The alleged rapist is afforded every right, free of stench or taint, at present. This is what accountability looks like. This is how it’s delivered. Last, if the man cannot be sent home, then the minister can arrange secondment to her office and place him in a comfortable backroom, until every last straw is examined. Accountability 101.
Sincerely,
GHK Lall
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