Refrain from inciting racial tensions – Joint Services Chairman to WPA activists

…says Joint Services apolitical, committed to serving all Guyanese
…AG condemns Ogunseye’s “racist incendiary call”

The Chairman of the Joint Services of Guyana, Brigadier Godfrey Bess, has called on political activists and commentators to stop making “mischievous statements” and inciting “racial tension” in the country.
Brigadier Bess, who is the Chief of Staff of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), was at the time responding to statements made by Working People’s Alliance (WPA) Executive Member, Tacuma Ogunseye, during a public meeting on Thursday evening at Buxton, East Coast Demerara.
In a statement on Friday, the Joint Services Chairman referenced an article published by the online news agency, Demerara Waves, in which Ogunseye was quoted telling residents at the Buxton meeting, where the issue of Local Government Elections was discussed, that “…the Afro-Guyanese-dominated Police and soldiers… would stand with Afro-Guyanese in resisting the mainly Indo-Guyanese supported PPP/C.” The WPA member further stated, according to the article, “We come to tell you that we will ensure that our brothers and sisters in uniform do the right thing and this thing will be over quickly.”
In response, Brigadier Bess reminded that “…irrespective of the its ethnic composition, the Joint Services of Guyana is an apolitical institution and will continue to uphold the novel position of service to the people of Guyana.”
Further, it was noted that the Joint Services – which comprises of the Guyana Police Force, the Guyana Prison Service and the Guyana Fire Service along with the GDF – is guided by the Constitution which mandates it to stand firm in the protection of the law and in the execution of its duties, in keeping with its constitutional responsibilities, and not by any partisan values and interests.
To this end, the Chairman of the Joint Services urged “…particularly social and political activists and commentators, to refrain from these and other misleading and mischievous remarks which incite racial tensions, deviating from the promotion of the peace and security which the [Joint] Services are mandated to mandate.”
According to the Demerara Waves article, Ogunseye told residents that it would suggest to its Opposition partners that “…instead of mobilising to participate in the elections on election day, we mobilise to turn (LGE Day) as a day of national resistance and African uprising.”
This call for national resistance was supported by Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton, who also at the meeting and indicated, on the contrary, that his party – the PNCR-led A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) – will participate in the upcoming Local Government polls that is set for June 12, 2023.
The WPA, which was one of the five political parties that joined forces to establish the APNU in 2011, exited the coalition in August 2020, citing “disrespectful treatment”.

Condemned
Meanwhile, following the article, Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister, Anil Nandlall, SC, who is the Secretary of the Defence Board, strongly condemned the utterances of the Opposition politicians.
He called out Ogunseye for exhortations to the Armed Forces of Guyana to join a mass uprising against the lawful and democratically elected Government of Guyana, referencing the Forces’ “ready access to weapons”, for them to be “battle ready”, and for also preying on the dominant Afro-Guyanese composition of these law-enforcement agencies.

“This racist incendiary call for public disorder and resistance, positioned as an alternative to the democratic process of Local Government Elections lawfully due, is capable of amounting to several criminal offences, including but not limited to, sedition, seditious libel, inciting riotous behaviour and exciting racial hostility in order to create a breakdown of law and order within the State of Guyana, if not treason,” Nandlall contended.
According to the Attorney General, such inflammatory publications cannot be justified under the rubric of freedom of expression as guaranteed by the Constitution, especially since Article 146 which guarantees such freedom, expressly excepts at Article 146 (3) “…hate speeches or other expressions, in whatever form, capable of exciting hostility or ill-will against any person or class of persons.”
AG Nandlall went on to outline that persons such as and those of his ilk are of a bygone era and are stuck in a time warp long gone – which has no place in this modern Guyana or any modern democratic society as a matter fact.
“Nevertheless, we cannot become complacent and ignore these dangerous threats intended to strike at the foundation of the freedoms we enjoy and the rule of law, which protects us as a civilised nation.”
“All right-thinking citizens must therefore echo their voices against such perilous rhetoric and the law enforcement agencies are obliged to take such action as they deem necessary. History has shown that when such conduct is ignored, it inspires the perpetrators with greater boldness to public detriment,” the Attorney General stressed. (G8)