Guyana Observer News

Mark Benschop

The PPP is talking about missing guns from the Guyana Defence Force, and in the process, attempting to link the PNC to those weapons. Well, it’s time that the truth is told about, not only those so-called missing weapons, but also the thousands that the Jagdeo led regime handed out to its supporters, including dozens of known drug lords and other high profiled criminals.

AXEL WILLIAMS
It has been reported that over 75,000 gun licenses are in the hands of Guyanese, most of which were handed out by the former notorious Minister of Home Affairs, Ronald Gagraj. In fact, it is no secret that Gagraj and other senior government officials were operating (and still are) alongside criminals. Let's take, for example, the case of a murderer named Axel Williams. Williams, who was then a taxi driver, shot and killed a hard working food vendor named Rodwell Ogle on August 8, 2002 for twenty Guyana dollars after Mr. Ogle objected to being given short money.

Axel Williams was a well known character who was alleged to have been involved in contract killing for the government of Guyana. Thus, it was not surprising that on January 19, 2003, even after the office of the DPP had recommended that Williams be charged with the murder of the food vendor, he was never arrested and continued his contacts with Mr. Ronald Gagraj.

In fact, when Williams was gunned down on December 10, 2003, it was subsequently revealed that he was in regular contact with several senior members of the Guyana Police Force and the infamous Ronald Gagraj. Williams' cell phone records indicated that he had placed 118 calls to Gagraj's office and home numbers. With this said, no one should be surprised that Gagraj, on May 23, 2003, instructed the then acting Police Commissioner, Floyd McDonald to upgrade Axel's gun license from a .32 pistol to a 9mm pistol.

ROGER KHAN
On December 3, 2002 Shaheed ‘Roger' Khan, Haroon Gahya and then policeman attached to the ‘death squad', Sean Belfield were arrested by an army patrol at Good Hope on the East Coast of Demerara. The vehicle they were driving was outfitted with bullet-proof windows and discovered inside, were an arsenal of high-powered weapons. The weapons intercepted included: two modified M-16 assault weapons with night vision capability, 1 Uzi submachine gun with silencer, 2 Glock 9mm pistols, 1 twelve gauge shotgun, other small caliber weapons, bullet proof vests, helmets, and other military issue equipment.

Informed sources within the GDF reported that Khan and his men were being “investigated after it was revealed that he was the leader and main financier of a government sponsored death squad”. The source claimed that “when Khan and his gang were intercepted, the army had already received confidential information that weapons were being transported, but this information was never passed on to the police as it was already known that senior members of the Guyana Police Force were already in the pockets of the US fugitive”. On Dec 9, 2002 Justice Jainarine Singh Jr. (the same judge who recently released Dataram, who is wanted in the US for the exportation of cocaine) released Khan and his gang members.

Khan, a known fugitive from US Justice prior to his extradition to the US, boasted about his involvement with the notorious Guyana Police Force and the fact that he financed and supported them in his so-called ‘fight against crime'. Roger Khan is now sitting in a US jail awaiting trial on numerous cocaine charges.

 GOPAUL CHOWTIE
Gopaul Chowtie was charged for treason along with several others in the late eighties under the PNC government after a cache of weapons was found in their possession. Included in that list of accused were, a serving member of the Guyana Police Force (GPF), Balram Persaud (Persaud has since been promoted to Senior Suprintendent) and a serving soldier of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF). The big question now is whether those weapons found were actually stolen from the GDFor the GPF? Interestingly though, Chowtie, upon his release from prison, was granted a large piece of land on the Essequibo Coast by the PPP regime. Then came the bombshell which further exposed Chowtie and the PPP regime, linking them both as part of the phantom death squads and the crime spree on the East Coast of Demarara.

Many would recall that during those murderous days, many innocent persons lost their lives at the hands of criminals. This newspaper is not naïve enough to believe that some of the murders were not committed by opportunistic bandits, many of whom were out committing very serious crimes. However, the evidence points in the direction of death squads dominated by serving members of the police force, ex-policemen and political operatives, all of whom took advice from many senior government officials.

Those criminals were obviously instructed to murder opponents of the government, and innocent persons in order to drive fear throughout the country. This was evidently done to cast a negative light on the main opposition party, the PNC. So, we understand why president Jagdeo is so reluctant to create a board of inquiry to investigate crimes on the East Coast of Demerara from 2002 to 2005.

It is quite apparent that the results might very well expose Mr. Jagdeo and other officials of the PPP. Case in point, Gopaul Chowtime, a well known PPP activist operating out of Freedom House (the PPP headquarters) under the alias ‘Leo', was shot dead as he and approximately six heavily armed criminals attacked Jules Chabrol and his family on April 4, 2004.Weapons recovered at the scene were: one .22Rossi revolver with five live rounds, one 22/20gauge combination shotgun with one live cartridge, one AK-47 assault rifle, two matching magazines, and 57 live rounds of 7.62x39 ammunition, one .32 Taurus pistol – and a bag filled with money. What was even more revealing was the fact that Chowtie was issued with a gun license by the then notorious minister of Home Affairs, Ronald Gagraj.

Certainly, the public would like to know whether those weapons were part of the army or police. The truth about this would not be known for now, since those in power often ensure that the ballistic experts report that the weapons were basically used to shoot birds in the backdam. Andre Henry, an ex-employee of Chowtie, claimed to have seen a stash covered with leatherette that included guns at Chowtie's farm at Hogg Island, Essequibo River.

MOHAMED SALIM AKA ‘BEAST'
Mohamed ‘Beast' Salim, a well known PPP activist from the village of Enmore, was found with a cache of high-powered weapons and ammunition at his home immediately following the 1997 elections. This matter was quickly covered up by the then top cop, Laurie Lewis. Lewis said that ‘Beast' was in possession of such large amount of weapons as a decoy for persons wishing to buy illegal arms. Ronald Gagraj represented ‘Beast' in the short lived court matter.

So, with this said (for now) it is safe to suggest that the proliferation of arms began with the PPP's tenure which began, not only in October of 1992, but such callous action began in the early 1960s. The PPP regime has thus far distributed over thousands of weapons to their supporters, this includes hundreds to known drug lords and other known criminals linked to all of the government sponsored death squads.

With respect to the 237 weapons that were issued to the now defunct ministry of National Development under the Forbes Burnham government between 1976 and 1979, it is rather politically unwise that the president focus his attention on what happened then since what will eventually come to the surface will most likely haunt the PPP forever. This move will quite possibly expose their complicity in those missing weapons and much more. May be Mr. Jagdeo needs to be properly briefed on matters of national security before sticking his feet into his mouth, as is always the case.

On the issue of what transpired at the ministry of National Development, the president does not have to look far. We suggest that he check with his Minister of Foreign Trade, Mr. Henry Jeffrey, Odinga Lumumba, Laurie Lewis or Norman McClean, who became the army's Chief of Staff in 1979. It is no wonder why people are now accusing him of attempting to divert attention away from the torturing of citizens and soldiers executed by army officers who are linked to known drug lords the phantom death squads.

We conclude with a word of advice to the current army Chief of Staff – sir, your pledge to be loyal to the government of the day has been rejected by Mr. Jagdeo, who said that he does not want anyone to ‘pledge allegiance' to his government. Quite a mouthful, but let's keep an eye on those missing weapons, including those missing AK-47's. In closing, we urge president Jagdeo and his party to come clean.