Guyana: penetration in a failed state

Even in the most socially disheveled country, you are not going to find some of the abominable forms of social and political absurdities that obtain in the Guyanese society. There are territories where military strongmen rule and their politics are brutal, but they would not tolerate the forms of political indiscipline that have completely taken over this country.
Where it will end, no one knows, but two solutions may be possible. One is a new government that will be forced to confront the social lawlessness that the present government itself has encouraged. One argument against that was put to me last Thursday by a journalist at this newspaper. She asked me if it is not possible that the very people that condemn the social degeneracy will not find it strategically useful to tolerate when they get into power.
My answer was no. But there are people who believe it can happen. The other solution is a national government. If I had to choose, I would say that the only future guaranteed to this country will be in an all-party administration. What cannot be denied is that unless we change the way power is exercised in this land, we are going to have more of the dangerous slackness that allowed Deryck Kanhai to have those guns that he used to kill two brave policemen and two innocent citizens.
The question that is being asked is against the background of his troubled past with the law, how did he secure a valid gun licence? The answer lies in the penetration of state security and the government by a particular layer of the Guyanese society – the cabal of very wealthy people that all and sundry know as the nouveau riche. These are extremely rich people who have accumulated vast wealth based on their collusion with the power people.
The nouveau riche have penetrated the inner recesses of state security and the apex of the political establishment, and have become virtually untouchable. These moneyed people are beyond the law and through their connections they do not almost, but anything they want. They can get away with all types of criminal behaviour.
They can secure any concession they want from any state institution without even spending a minute in the bureaucratic environment. They can buy any piece of land or any building they desire. There is no way the police force will arrest or charge any erring member of the nouveau riche. They will not because their tentacles are all over the police force.
Another layer of society that has enormous connection with State security comprises the normally wealthy folks. Though the word “penetration” is not appropriate to their relationship with the police and the government, they are still above the law. Here is an example of how unbelievably low this society has sunk. This is an example that is an innocuous situation, and nothing personal is intended against this particular person.
I cite it here to demonstrate that if a member of a traditionally wealthy family class can behave like this, think of what the decadently nouveau riche class can and will do.
There is a man in this country that as a matter of policy does not use a helmet when riding. This man never, I repeat, never uses a helmet and can be seen all over Demerara (maybe Guyana) riding without a helmet. Ten years ago, I saw this man ride through a police roadblock on the Linden highway.
With me were the editor of the Catholic Standard, Colin Smith; William Cox of the Office of the President and businessman David Isaacs. We all saw when the police didn’t even blink an eye. Since those ten years, I and maybe countless other citizens have seen this man on his expensive machine without a helmet.
The deduction here is if he can flout the law so openly then his motorcycle (or car) doesn’t need to carry a road licence document and certificate of fitness from the police.
Mr. Kanhai was a rich citizen. He could easily have procured through normal channels any gun he wanted. He had the resources to do so. The nouveau riche have absolutely no respect for the ordinary ranks of the police force. They know where their contacts are and those connections will exempt them from the hands of justice.This macabre descent into chaos differentiates Guyana from most countries in the world. There is only one concept to describe this modern day nihilism – failed state.
It is not that a few wealthy folks don’t try a thing when they violate the law in many developed countries, but it is surely not the norm. There is no way any super-wealthy citizen can get away with egregiously violent crimes as we in the media know they do in today’s Guyana.