Vice-President (VP) Bharrat Jagdeo has accused Opposition Leader, Aubrey Norton of deliberately labelling the Guyana Police Force (GPF) as politicised, in an effort to prevent the law enforcement agency from objectively fulfilling its mandate.
The VP and General Secretary during a press conference at his party’s headquarters, Freedom House, today said that Norton’s comments could influence the force by pushing it on its “backfoot” if it wishes to prove that it is not being controlled by the government.
Jagdeo’s comments come after Norton, at an earlier press conference on Thursday, accused the force of kowtowing to its “political masters”, maintaining that the recent report from the US State Department about corruption in the force is factual despite the government’s refutations.
“Corruption in the force has become a norm… As I engage people in the communities, police officers complain that there are people who are linked to this administration who are overruling senior members of the force. There are also police officers who are involved in daily corrupt practices,” Norton was quoted by this publication as saying earlier today.
Norton’s party has been at the forefront of calling on the government to loosen its grip on the force, especially in the eviction of persons from disputed lands, the arrests and subsequent charges brought against close affiliates of the main parliamentary opposition, and the force’s alleged involvement in the killing of Afro-Guyanese citizens during operations.
Jagdeo said today that the GPF must be independent and should not allow itself to be disparaged by the opposition in executing its function to protect and serve. He said the issues are all about “law and order” and not discrimination.
He also alluded to police inaction regarding several stirring comments made by two members of the Working People’s Alliance (WPA) at a recent rally where derogatory comments targeting an ethnic group were broadcast across several platforms.
Jagdeo also chided Norton for not condemning the statements and hesitating to defend his former party’s General Secretary from being described as being part of a slave trade. When Norton was pressed to comment on the utterance, which also came from a WPA Executive Member, he said that he was unaware of the statement and suggested that “it is time we move on”.
