[www.inewsguyana.com] – Attorney at Law Christopher Ram, representing the interest of the Working People’s Alliance (WPA), at the ongoing Walter Rodney Commission of Inquiry (COI) has accused President Donald Ramotar of making premature interventions in the work of the Commission.
Yesterday, the Head of State had called on Opposition Leader and Leader of the People’s National Congress (PNC) David Granger to ensure that deadly army guns which were issued to the PNC administration over 30 years ago are retuned.
But according to Ram, such statements are inappropriate and improper.
“President Ramotar must be aware that the Commission of Inquiry has not finished taking evidence, let alone analyzing that evidence, making its findings and recommendations, and issuing its report. He must therefore desist from premature interventions which undermine the integrity of the Commission of Inquiry and those who are working assiduously to arrive at the truth,” Ram told reporters.
Ram added that regrettably, the unmistakable inferences to be drawn from his intervention validate publicly expressed concerns that the Commission of Inquiry was set up not to determine the circumstances of and persons and agencies responsible for the death of Dr. Walter Rodney, but to serve the political agenda of the PPP/C.
During this past week GDF Lt. Col. Sidney James had testified that some 237 army weapons were issued to the persons within the Office of the Prime Minister and Ministry of National Development during the PNC reign.
He testified that records show only 82 were returned, leaving some 155 outstanding and unaccounted for.
President Ramotar fear that these guns may very well have found its way into the hands of criminals; recalling the two Army guns that were recovered during a shootout between police and bandits in Mahaica in 2009.
Ram, however, feels that the PPP/C has been derelict in pursuing the return of the weapons issued to external agencies.
He said all citizens ought to be concerned about missing weapons particularly from the entity responsible for the defense of the country. “Important as that matter is however, it must not be used by the government or any political party for partisan for political purposes or to distract from the principal purpose of the Commission of Inquiry,” he added.
He believes that President Ramotar can make a significant contribution to this objective by ordering the Secretary of Defense Board Dr Roger Luncheon to appear before the Commission of Inquiry with the files to give evidence.
when will it be ‘mature’,mr ram,for the president to call for the return of guns that are illegally in the hands of criminals? after how many innocent citizens are killed?
It’s obvious that the people who are at the helm at times appears to be in a strange land.
The issue here is that these guns are out in the public domain. If someone get killed by any of these weapons in the meantime Mr Ram, will you take ownership Sir?
Most people look before they leap; Ramotar leaps without looking and that’s why he always lands feet in mouth.