Granger, Harmon must be held responsible – former PNC Minister

Deadly WCB protests…

Former People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) minister Kit Nascimento has called for Opposition Leader Joseph Harmon and APNU Leader, former President David Granger, to be held accountable for inciting racial divisions among Guyanese using the horrific deaths of the Henry cousins on the West Coast of Berbice.

The mutilated bodies of 16-year-old Isaiah Henry and 19-year-old Joel Henry were discovered on Sunday aback Cottage Tree village, West Coast Berbice, where they had gone to pick coconuts. Their deaths have sparked widespread public outrage and protest actions.
The horrific act was also condemned by many leaders, including President Irfaan Ali and Government Ministers, as well as leaders from the APNU/AFC Opposition and from other civil society bodies.
However, Harmon and Granger have been bashed for using the deaths of these two teenagers to drive racial decisiveness among Guyanese.
Nascimento is the latest public official to join in criticising the utterances from the two leaders.
In a letter to the editor on Wednesday, he referred to a statement from Harmon in which the Opposition Leader decried the murder, but also sought to incite “racially driven protest”. This, he noted, contributed to the escalation of the protests, which resulted in persons blocking the roads and attacking and robbing persons attempting to pass.

“In the name of protest, labelled as “solidarity” with the families of the murdered boys, the protesters have resorted to violence, disrupting traffic; setting fire to two (2) trucks loaded with farmers’ paddy; destroying property, and physically confronting the Police who were attempting to clear the roads, resulting in the Guyana Defence Force being called out to provide assistance,” Nascimento posited.
He further pointed out that there was not a word from Granger condemning the violence. Instead, Harmon is on record calling the protest “a struggle against oppression, a struggle against a fraudulent Government”.
Nascimento stated that Harmon claims, “We do not agree that there should be any Black and Indian fighting”, but then he goes on to claim, without evidence, “Too many Black youths are vanishing in the same way that cousins Isaiah and Joel Henry were killed and mutilated”.

President Irfaan Ali had immediately condemned this horrendous crime perpetrated on the teenage cousins, and directed the Commissioner of Police to place the full resources at his disposal to investigate the crime and bring to justice those responsible.
However, Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum has pointed out that the protest is preventing the Police from investigating the murder. This, according to Nascimento, is as a result of the PNC’s determination to promote civil unrest. He said they are determined to use these tragic deaths for political purpose.
“Granger and Harmon have become so besotted with hanging on to power, having tried and failed to impose rigged election results on the country, they now resort to breaking up the country using racial division as a weapon of destruction.”
Nascimento continued, “The legally elected President Irfaan Ali, faced with this ugly and ultimately criminal enterprise to force widespread civil unrest on the country, must act condignly and without hesitation. President Ali must call out Granger and Harmon, hold them responsible for what they are doing, and treat with them and those who blindly follow them accordingly under the law.” (G8)