Govt has much to account for – Jagdeo

Crime wave CoI

…questions PNC role in civil disturbances; missing weapons

With continued but vague references to a Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the crime wave under his presidency coming from the Government, former President Bharrat Jagdeo is insisting that the only way his party will support the move is if it is a credible one.

According to Jagdeo in a statement on Tuesday, events pre-2002 have to be taken into account. Questioning the involvement of the People’s National Congress (the majority partner in the coalition) in the killings and civil disturbances preceding that year, Jagdeo urged that this be investigated.
“I have noticed Minister (of State, Joseph) Harmon’s comments about several inquiries, as opposed to a comprehensive CoI into the crime wave. I believe that no inquiry will be complete unless there is a comprehensive review of what took place and who the operatives were, particularly the political operatives,” he said in a statement.
He noted that there were many questions that have to be answered.  “What was the level of support, moral and material, which was extended to criminals by certain PNC political operatives? How did guns, which were stolen or given out to the PNC, at a time when Granger was prominently positioned in the GDF, surface in the hands of criminals years later? Where are the 155 high-powered military weapons that were loaned to the PNC’s Ministry of National Development?” Jagdeo questioned.
The former Head of State noted that in August 2014, Lieutenant Colonel Sydney James testified and submitted documentation at the Walter Rodney Commission of Inquiry (CoI) to show that the GDF had loaned these weapons to the PNC.
“What were the roles of current Government Ministers and presidential advisors, who held leadership positions in the armed forces, in compromising the ability of our security forces to apprehend politically supported criminals? What was the political involvement in Buxton when women and children were organised to block members of the security forces from entering Buxton in April 2002?” Jagdeo continued.
“When will we see an inquiry into the theft of ballot boxes at a time when Granger, who has publicly identified himself as a PNC member for 52 years, served in a key GDF position?  When will we see an inquiry into the death of the ballot box martyrs at a time when current top Government officials were entrenched in the GDF? When will we see an inquiry into the post-1997 elections violence, including the ‘slow fyah, mo fyah’ campaign, the burning of buildings, the looting of businesses, the beating of innocent people and the sexual abuse of women?”

Old politics
According to Jagdeo, the Granger Administration has failed to deliver jobs and the ‘good life’ it promised during the election campaign. He said that in an effort to polarise society, the Government has returned to old politics.
“They should apologise to the victims of Bartica, Lusignan and Lindo Creek. They should apologise to those massacred in Agricola; one remembers the infamous conversation between senior public officials, who are current Ministers in the coalition Government, in an attempt to divert attention from themselves. They should apologise to all the other victims of the criminals they labelled as ‘freedom fighters’. The fact is that many of the current leaders in the coalition Government were complicit in many of these crimes.
“I have already made available to the media and publicly gone through the list of 400 young black men, which was circulated by the PNC, and shown that the authors of that list unashamedly included the names of victims of the crime wave, civilians and members of the security forces, both Indo and Afro-Guyanese.  Now, that number has been mysteriously increased to 1431 by Minister Harmon.  A credibly-constituted Commission of Inquiry, staffed by international jurists, will expose the intellectual authors behind the crime wave of the 2000s, including the political operatives who were involved,” Jagdeo stated.
During a brief interview, Harmon had announced that Commissioners for the CoI would be appointed this week and that work on the inquiry would commence on February 1. Jagdeo has already expressed a willingness to help in drafting the CoI’s Terms of Reference and to also make his former Government officials available for questioning once they had specific information.

https://guyanatimesgy.com/govt...-account-for-jagdeo/