By Abena Rockcliffe
Albeit delayed, it was the intervention of President Dr. Irfaan Ali to deploy sniffer dogs that caused a panic in the murderous camp. From all indications, in a rush to avoid the dogs locating the body of Adrianna Younge in the Double Day hotel and discovering other incriminating evidence, the band of murderers decided to throw the child’s lifeless body into the pool, the same pool that was checked on and off camera several times before. It is therefore obvious that President Irfaan Ali had nothing to do with initial attempts to cover up the child’s murder.
However, it appears that his love and loyalty to the top brass of the Guyana Police Force can cause President Ali to be painted with the same brush as those complicit – whether by corrupt motive or sheer incompetence – in the murder coverup.
“Let the process work, let’s get to the truth,” is what President Ali repeated twice yesterday as he prepared to leave the home of Younge’s family. The President’s utterance was in response to questions posed by Gordon Moseley about his confidence in the leadership of the Force.
While this author understands the President’s need to promote calm and trust, it ludicrous to ask citizens, especially those close to the murdered child, to “trust” any process that is marred by the involvement of the Guyana Police Force. This is the same Guyana Police Force that is still polluted with persons who betrayed the family, disrespected them, chased them, laughed in their faces and directly aided and abetted persons involved in the murder of that young, innocent child.
When the President arrived at the home of the bereaved, he met with three women under a tree outside the home. Those women are Adrianna’s mom, grandmother and aunt. Adrianna was in the custody of her grandmother just before she went missing. That woman was adamant, at all times, that her granddaughter’s disappearance was not on her own volition. From inception, the entire family maintained that Adrianna was not a child to wander off. They knew immediately something was amiss.
Yesterday, the child’s grandmother, consumed by grief, recalled to President Ali, “I begged, I begged (the police for help) my heart was leading me in that building, not to move.” Even as they begged, “the process” offered no help to that family when it mattered most. The family firmly believes that while they were begging, pleading, crying out for help, Adrianna was still alive.
The child’s aunt said there can be no trust in the Guyana Police Force “Because of what they did to us.” These people were hurt, personally by members of the same force.
The aunt, even in her tremendous pain, exhorted enough logic to say she cannot blame the entire force. She specified her quarrel is with those involved in the cover up. She said that the resources used to clear the supporters outside Leonora Station when protest was mounted for justice on Friday night, “could have been used to rescue my niece. While we were outside, they were in there murdering my niece.”
In addition to the fact that the police did very little to help the family, they also fabricated a narrative. The police, including the Regional commander tried, in every way to get the family to remove from outside that hotel. Why? Well, if one examines the narrative that was being built by the force, which is that she was seen leaving the hotel in a red and black Toyota Raum driven by an “Orlando”, then it would not be farfetched for one to conclude that the removal of the family was to facilitate the body leaving. It would have been dumped elsewhere and “Orlando” would have been framed for murder. The President is therefore asking to exert trust when the police blatantly lied, in black and white, not just to the family, but lied to all Guyana.
What since then?
After the body was discovered in the pool, confirming the gut feeling of relatives that she never left, there should have been immediate actions to relieve all those ranks involved of duty, at least pending investigation.
Instead, the nation saw only a press release admitting that “inaccurate” information was sent out. Well duh, that was clear. Didn’t the force have to capacity to at least figure out those who wrote, approved and sent out that inaccurate release? At the very least the PR person should have been able to lend clarity. Instead, the press release stating what was already confirmed was what “the process” offered.
Next, the ‘process’ transferred the commander. Transferred. Who would think that was an appropriate course of action?
Then, ‘the process’ had the nerve to tell the nation that in keeping with the force’s standard operating procedure, the commander was sent on administrative leave. While others are on close arrest. What exonerated the commander, why is he not under close arrest? Is this just a course of action just to quell concerns? This is a logical ask given the circumstances and considering Guyana’s history.
When Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton was interviewed on this matter. He said, “Wherever you have a society in which the government politically controls the police and lawlessness is the order of the day, these kinds of activities occur…. People know that the GPF is compromised they cannot enforce law in the way that they should and so people now believe that they can commit crimes and get away with it…The top of the GPF is compromised.”
This is the narrative. President Ali must understand that failure to take stern and swift actions will promote such narrative.
APNU+AFC Member of Parliament, Amanza Walton- Desir commented, “The police have demonstrated that they cannot be trusted. Irfaan Ali must act, Clifton Hicken must be removed, the commander that issued a statement that said the child left the hotel when obviously she did not, must resign today… a few bad apples are giving men and women who actually want to do their work, a bad name. In any scene functioning democracy, the president would have requested the commissioner resignation long time ago…You cannot put the police to investigate when they themselves are lying to the people.”
Why did the commissioner of Police have to wait for the President’s intervention to send sniffer dogs? You mean to say a matter of this nature did not capture the top cop’s attention, since the night before? Why did he not act? It is of little use to have a commissioner who has to rely on the President to do his work.
This incident has attracted the world’s attention. I understand the position of President Ali. It is an election year, and he wants police personnel who he can trust. But it is an election year and the nation needs peace and stability. Something must be done. It is clear, while the President is not to be blamed for the initial response of those in charge, he must be blamed and deemed as part and parcel of the cover up cabal if he does not ensure that the persons responsible for the mishandling of the matter are brought to justice.
It is election year and people are watching. If the President can threaten to fire persons at GuySuCo if they do not act right, why not act in like manner when dealing with a much more important body.
President Ali, the process failed us. How can you still ask us to trust it? As it is, the actions of the Guyana Police Force in this tragedy represent a slap in the face of the poor and vulnerable. I get that in complex issues like this we need multiple perspectives – I am interested in seeing a perspective where failure to fire those responsible should not be seen as the government giving thumbs up to culpable, telling them, ‘carry on as you were.’
