by Keith R. Williams
There is something ominous in the Minister of Home Affairs singling out of a particular segment of the population for special attention in Guyana’s so called robust War on Drugs. Particularly when that segmented group identified by the Minister, to wit, unemployed young people, will be comprised of large majorities of African Guyanese young men. It is amazing that were the President of the United States of America or any major Law Enforcement Authority in that country to make this kind of statement, they would immediately be bombarded with protestations of racial targeting. Ironically in Guyana where the demographic group affected would be similar to that in the US, the Minister of Home Affairs, Mr. Clement Mr. Rohee, can propose this policy with such grave racist implications and undertones with all the confidence that it will escape scrutiny and challenge. Why? Because clearly in his view, in his assessment of the power balance ratio in Guyana, the children of a particular group of citizens are easy targets to go after in maintenance of the illusion that there is really an administrative interest to mount a robust assault against drug trafficking in Guyana.
Imagine that in every normal part of the world where drug trafficking has become a major concern of political administrations, the effort to contain it is rightfully focused on the large operators ensconced behind legitimate business fronts, and the agencies that operate to launder the proceeds from the trade. In Guyana, this nation where one can experience excruciating cognitive dissonance from trying to figure out the reasoning behind some of the policies adopted by the powers that be, and their prima facie acceptance from a sometimes less than curious independent press corps, things consistently seem to trend to the contrary.
Recently, the President of Guyana, in response to murmurs of dissatisfaction from quarters in US administration regarding our efforts at drug interdiction and money laundering, made statements that suggested that he was not of a mind to jeopardize prospects for local and foreign investments by scrutinizing the source of wealth of those so inclined, or words to that effect. Should some of us not presume that from this expressed presidential position, and the tone of the Minister of Home Affairs recent pronouncement, that our children will have to become pawns to protect a political or economic preserve. For what else is there to construe from the unambiguous comment quote, “I have made it known publicly that I, as Minister of Home Affairs, intend to carry a strong fight, irrespective of the criticism that people may make against me. There will be zero tolerance with respect to persons who are engaged in drug trafficking in this country. It is not something to be tolerated,”. “He further noted that great efforts will be made to curb this action, especially among unemployed young people, whom he believes are more vulnerable”. As a matter of logic and commonsense, shouldn’t those great efforts be concentrated especially among those who we know possess the means and the influence to keep this trade going? Is the selling of a couple of spiffs of marijuana at a street corner or from some remote bottom house or shack more likely to concretize drug trafficking in Guyana than say, the shipping of chemical compounds derived from the cocoa or opium plant?
Bearing in mind the importance of disclaimers when commenting on these kinds of issues in our discussion space, let me assure all and sundry that I am certainly not advocating for a total ignoring of any aspect of drug use and drug trafficking among any population segments in Guyana. I am saying that unless someone is retarded or believe in the tooth fairy, the foregoing statement of policy by the Minister of Home Affairs clearly implies a discriminate targeting of a specific segment of the Guyanese home bound population for incarceration. We can only interpret his intentions from the words with which he announces or illuminates them. And a zero tolerance in the case of drug trafficking that targets especially the young and unemployed, rather than the mysteriously rich and camouflageable employed, seem to be a coded assertion as to who will be attracting the main focus and attention of law enforcement in Guyana. I am not averse to law enforcement intervention to make Guyana drug free. I am averse to my sons, my nephews and my brothers and other male relatives becoming sacrificial lambs to the political correctness of presenting an illusion before international donors, and protecting an ensemble of local sacred cows.
In my humble opinion, this IS just another form of ethnic cleansing.
