One day after it was announced that President David Granger has ordered a Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into an alleged plot to assassinate him, Opposition Leader Dr Bharrat Jagdeo said this move was one that could be seen as the President’s lack of confidence in the local security forces.
Jagdeo told the press on Monday that this revelation also highlighted the Government’s intention to do all it could to distract the Guyanese populace from the multiple issues that needed urgent attention.
“You need another CoI…into this? That means you don’t trust your security forces or the Police to investigate this. You are saying that somebody didn’t investigate this properly,” he opined.
Meanwhile, Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan recently confirmed with sections of the media that the President had indeed ordered a CoI into the alleged plot to assassinate him.
Ramjattan revealed that the decision was taken after the President and others within the Cabinet felt that the investigation was taking too long (it has been ongoing for months now) and there were countless issues with the case.
He did note that the President had deliberated on the terms and conditions of the CoI.
Minister of State, Joseph Harmon had earlier disclosed that the Administration had been provided with some information by the Police about an ongoing investigation of that nature.
He said the matter was being investigated by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and the Police’s legal advisor.
Harmon had said, “I have the full confidence of the ability of the security forces to protect our President and the Ministers of Government who have been elected by the people to run the Government.”
The matter involving the alleged plot to assassinate President Granger was first brought to light by Minister Harmon in April at a post-Cabinet press briefing.
Shortly after news broke of the investigations into the alleged assassination plot against the Head of State, the complainant, a well-known barber of Grove, East Bank Demerara (EBD), appeared on a local private television station to relate his story.
In that interview, the barber revealed that he was offered $7 million and given a “long black gun” by a businessman to carry out the job of assassinating the President, but he had declined the offer.
Reports indicate that he subsequently filed a complaint with the Police. However, the alleged witness to the offer has since told investigators during the confrontation that the complainant had contacted him and offered a sum of money in exchange for him giving a statement claiming that he (the alleged witness) was present when two businessmen contacted the complainant about allegedly assassinating the President.
According to a Police source, the complainant had only made the monetary offer after he informed the Police of the assassination plot.
