Gender Based Violence and Guyana’s Judicial System


The scourge of domestic violence has been plaguing Guyana’s shores for years, but of recent, it has become more prevalent with our women, being several battered and even dying at the hands of their husbands, boyfriends or lovers, with little or no justice being meted-out.

Lack of sufficient evidence to prosecute, and corruption, have been two of the main factors which have seen little or no cases of Gender Based Violence victims/families receiving Justice in Guyana’s Judicial System.

While looking at a locally air television commentary, on the June 10 airing of the Walter Rodney Groundings, Dr. David Hinds underscored that the: “Country’s Judicial System is not doing enough to protect our women.”

 Despite not agreeing with many of the arguments posited by Dr. Hinds, I must say that I support this particular point , since it relates to the violation of a women’s human rights and has now become an endemic and universal problem. Unfortunately, not much is being done to halt this scourge.

Putting aside politics, Guyanese must come together and look at ways in which more can be done to address Gender-Based Violence that is widespread in Guyana, as Politicians and Political Activist lie or sometimes play games with the truth of the critical issue, and while they are busy doing the latter, women worldwide continues to die at the hands of their spouse, with the gruesome details flashed across our dailies almost everyday, making it a lot worst for the sanity of our future generation.

Of the majority of cases I have read of victims and their situation, I happened to feel most attached to Sharon Howell who was stabbed and hammered by her lover, Aubrey Peters on May 27.

 Recalling the gruesome tragedy, Howell’s brother, Wickliffe Halley stated that his sister who was stabbed multiple times about the body was also hammered in the head with the claw of the hammer which Peters used to carry out his attack.

Reportedly, the mother of 10 has since been discharged and is on the road to recovery, BUT what society can only hope and pray for, is that the victim does not return in the arms of her attacker, with impenetrable hopes that he will change for the better.

Being a Journalist for a number of years, I am familiar with some of the most logical, amazing and unintelligent answers from some of the survivors of Gender-Based Violence: …..whether I love him…it is the first time he has ever hit me or he was under the influence and as such, his actions can be justified….

Come on ladies……no one can deny that Gender-Based Violence is among  the nation’s most critical ills….but we must join the forces and assist the decisions makers and other organisations which have rallied towards the issue, whether in the form of public awareness or sensitization programmes, to see the ratio of women dying at the hands of their lovers reduced, and in the near future eliminated.

However, while much can be done and is being done to remedy the situation, Guyana’s Judicial System needs to up-the-ante with respect to prosecution as it has been doing rather poorly over the years, as many of these same attackers have walked out of the court system as free men and available to readily prey on their next victim.

The authorities also need to revamp the system, as there is also a huge backlog of cases awaiting to be heard in the courts…..Judicial actions must be swift….

Treason accused freed

The three persons accused of treason was today freed of charges, despite special prosecutor, Vic Puran’s assertion that the matter is “far from over’.
Those freed are Major Bruce Munroe, his wife Carol and a former Reserve Officer, Leonard Wharton, after a decision of insufficient evidence to face trail by a judge and jury was ruled out by Chief Magistrate, Priya Sewnarine Beharry .
The trio who were accused between December 1, 2009 adnd December 16, 2010, of intending to step a war aimed at forcing the President out of his office, in order to compel the Guyana Government to change its measures, were arrested in 2010.
Major Munroe and Wharton both credited his legal victory to the Almighty according to a source from Demerara Waves online.

Photo complements of Demerara Waves online


Magistrate Sewnarine-Beharry agreed with the Defence's no-case submissions and she cited precedents in other countries to disagree with the prosecution's application for the particulars of the charge to be amended to include reference to an overt act.
The matter to re open the Preliminary Inquiry in the case is now left to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Shalimar Hack.

Two-month old baby dies after being struck in the head

A two month old baby boy, succumbed on Tuesday afternoon, after he was reportedly hit in the head with a utensil, during a “fight” between his parents. The inclident occurred at their Lot 78 Le Resouvenir, East Coast Demerara home.

According to reports, reaching Erika’s newspost, the couple, who are know alcoholics, were involved in a squabble around 1:30pm, when the child’s father while attempting to strike the mother with a kitchen utensil ‘accidentally’ hit the child who was in his mother’s arms.

According to sources after the child was hit in the head, he was dropped from the mother’s hands, since she too received blows with the utensil.

The child was rushed to the Georgetown Public hospital by a villager and died just after 5pm the said day.
The woman was later arrested after she went into hiding , while police continue to hunt for the infant’s father who is also on the run.

2012 National Budget to be presented on March 30

The 2012 National Budget will be presented to the National Assembly on Friday March 30, according Prime Minister Samuel Hinds

During a sitting of parliament on Wednesday, Mr Hinds moved a motion for the house to meet on March 30, when the estimates will be presented by Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh.
Earlier, the Government’s spokesman Dr Roger Luncheon told a news conference that cabinet was assured by the finance minister that all plans were in place for the month-end presentation of the annual financial estimates.

“Cabinet was advised about the readiness the, [and] preparedness of the finance minister and his technical teams, who have been finalizing preparations that begun administratively since August of 2011, with the issuance of the budget circular,” Luncheon said.
According to Luncheon, budget is constitutionally due within 90 days of the commencement of the fiscal year.

The National Budget which was usually presented by the end of February every year, was delayed after the Opposition political parties of A Partnership for national Unity (APNU) and Alliance For Change (AFC) who holds a one-seat majority in parliament, called for consultation on the estimates to ensure that their contributions to the estimates are considered.

Gunned down businessman linked to discovery of cocaine at airport

A businessman was gunned down, execution style on Friday evening, while imbibing at a popular nightspot in Eccles, East Bank Demerara.
Dead is Leonard Mahadeo of Third Street, Diamond, East Bank Demerara, who was killed by masked men who invaded the nightspot with AK47s and riddled Mahadeo with bullets. The Gunmen, reportedly left in what some eyewitnesses say was a grey Premio car, which wore no license number plate.
The Police has since acknowledged that the businessman who have been fingered in several drug busts, but were released after poor evidence; might have been linked to the botched export of several kilogrammes of cocaine that were found on the tarmac of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport.

“Two men armed with firearms exited from a motor car and discharged several rounds at Mahadeo which struck him about his body. The men escaped in the motor vehicle,” police PRO, Ivelaw Whittaker said in a statement.
Several persons have since been questioned in relations to the murder.
According to the police, Mahadeo was one of several persons who had been charged in 1996 following a joint probe by Guyanese police and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, but was never convicted.
In 2008, Mahadeo narrowly escaped execution when a gunman discharged several rounds at him as he had been leaving the Bahama Breeze Nightspot.

Father and son charged with piracy

Dawanand Jagdai, a Leguan resident and has three sons have been arrested and charged with hijacking and piracy, after a fisherman positively identified an outboard engine as his property.
A press release from the Police Public Relations Office, Ivelaw Whittaker confirmed that the man and his three sons, Parmanand Jagdai, 25 years; Suresh Jagdai, 24 years; and Narendra Jagdai, 17 years, appeared before Magistrate Leron Daly at the Suddie Magistrates’ Court on March 16 and were remanded to prison until April 30.

“One of the fishermen who was a victim of the recent pirate attacks at the mouth of the Pomeroon River positively identified one of the engines to be his property that was stolen during the incident,” the statement said.
Police officers conducted a search to the home, on March 3 and found two 15 horsepower outboard engines. However, Jagdai was unable to produce a receipt for one of the engines and the receipt for the other appeared to be forged.
They were then charged for unlawful possession of the engines.
Since the commencement of the year, several fishermen were victims of piracy, and have called on the Government to put mechanism in place to safeguard their livelihoods.
Subsequent to this, Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr. Roger Luncheon announced that mechanism have been put in place, to which the Coast Guards have collaborated with the Ministries of Agriculture and Home Affairs to ‘beef up’ communication at sea.

Many families have lost their loved-ones as a result of piracy, a trade (fishing sector), which contributes approximately 3 percent to the national GDP with a growth of 7.4 percent from 2009 to 2011, according to the Fisheries Department.

Shortage of PVC 13 Vaccine in Guyana


There is currently a shortage of the new PVC 13 vaccine, which was launched in January 2011 in Guyana, and several mothers are complaining that the shortage will some-what put their infants life at risk.

Despite the Health Ministry’s advocacy to promote family health through the improvement of maternal and child health, there still remains a shortage of the vaccine which protects infant and, toddlers against 13 strains of pneumococcal infections

When contacted for a comment, the Ministry of Health’s spokesperson denied such allegation, claiming that there are currently enough PVC 13 vaccines in stock.

However, on February 15, Cabinet gave the ‘green light’ to a US$93,685 contract for the Procurement of Vaccines for the Maternal Child Health programme, of which the PVC 13 is present.

President’s accusation of rigged 2011 elections can be justified
-Dr. Luncheon

There is justification for the comments uttered by President Donald Ramotar on the recent elections results, notwithstanding, the reports and conclusions which arose from the scrutiny of the elections by Observers, Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon told media representatives on Wednesday.
On February 12, President Ramotar in an interview with the Guyana Chronicle spoke of incidents which occurred at several polling stations, where PPP/C polling agents were barred from entering.
The article also stated that actions by the Opposition threatened the peace in the country, and as a result forced many to depart from executing their constitutional rights and Opposition Leader David Granger has since come out calling for the statement to be retracted.
According to Dr. Luncheon, the comments by the Opposition leader did not in any case question the constitutionality of the decision made by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), but however, were centered on the Government’s comments, on the issue of mischief when counting the votes and manipulation which severely robbed the PPP of votes.
“I don’t believe that the statement in any way could be construed to be a reflection or to have an impact on the legitimacy of the Government, saving except that you might be speaking about the Government and the plurality, this was exactly what the president was alluding to,” the Cabinet Secretary said.
“However, while the Government was successful in the general elections, the combined opposition enjoyed the plurality, and has obtained more seats in the Parliament notwithstanding the fact that the PPP had more seats than any other party in the (National) Assembly,” he said.
“You might know that the PPP was the only contending party at the General Elections, which lodged an objection within the stipulated timeframe. You might know also that after discussions the PPP withdrew those objections primarily in Regions Three and Four,” he said.
The basis for the withdrawal of the objections by the ruling party, Dr. Luncheon said still exists and continues to exist.
“In the very first instance, President Ramotar repeatedly offered for us to do a forensic audit and go to the courts as we did before. The fact that that has not happened may very well be the basis which encouraged the other participants to explain, but certainly I felt that there wasn’t a consensus among the three parties to so do,” he said.

UG community changed design on how aspects of World Bank loan should be used- HPS

The decision on how the component of the World Bank loan that addresses the University of Guyana UG) and its facilities, is not one that is made by neither the institution nor any of its officials Head of the Presidential Secretariat (HPS), Dr. Roger Luncheon said at his weekly post-Cabinet press briefing at the Office of the President.
He was at the time responding to a question as to when the mechanisms will be put in place to facilitate UG accessing the World Bank loan.
Last month, UG’s Vice Chancellor Professor Lawrence Carrington in his address to staff members said that the loan to the Guyana Government has not yet been activated because the Finance Minister is still to sign a crucial loan document.
The HPS said that he had personally invited Professor Carrington to be involved in a body which included Dr. Paulette Bynoe from the School of Environmental and Earth Sciences and others, to devise a structure on how best the funds could be used.
He explained that what actually happened since, is that the University community revised and changed that design to utilise the $8.4M to support various aspects of the institution’s recapitalisation.
“I am not aware that those specific elements await the Minister of Finance or any subordinate approval,” he said.
The World Bank loan is aimed at certain broad areas, such as the rehabilitation and refurbishment of the Science and Technology Laboratory facilities in four of the university’s faculties at Turkeyen; the review and reform of UG’s Science curriculum; and support for research towards low-carbon themes.