Head of the Guyana Police Force’s Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU), Deputy Commissioner of Police Fizal Karimbaksh, has been sent on leave pending the outcome of an investigation into allegations of rape and threatening behaviour levelled against him by a female rank.
This was confirmed by the Police Force in a statement on Thursday. SOCU is the white-collar investigative arm of the GPF.
According to the missive, after the report was filed against Karimbaksh, Police Commissioner Clifton Hicken established a team to conduct a thorough investigation into the allegations.
In addition, the female Police Officer who made the complaint has since been transferred from the SOCU office to another division within the Force.
“The Guyana Police Force wishes to assure the public that the allegations are being treated with the seriousness they warrant and that the investigation will be conducted professionally, impartially and in accordance with established procedures,” the statement detailed.
It went on to add that the Force remains committed to ensuring that due process is afforded to all parties involved as the investigations continue.
Over the past few weeks, there has been mounting pressure from the political Opposition and women’s rights groups for the SOCU Head to be sent on leave pending the probe.
In fact, just last week, Home Affairs Minister Oneidge Walrond said she too believes that the senior officer should not remain on active duty while the investigation is ongoing.

“The fact is that Mr Karimbaksh is at the helm of the Police Force. He’s a deputy commissioner. So, there is a particular procedure that has to be followed… It is my view, and I hold this strong view, that he should be sent on administrative leave pending the investigation,” Walrond had stated during the Starting Point podcast.
Based on established protocols, the Police Service Commission (PSC) is responsible for disciplinary actions against senior officers, including placing them on administrative leave.
However, the Commission has not been reconstituted since it expired in July this year.
In the absence of a functioning PSC, however, Minister Walrond had indicated that she would be engaging Commissioner Hicken to determine the way forward on the matter.
Meanwhile, Walrond had gone on to further assure in a subsequent Facebook post last Friday that these serious allegations will be properly investigated.
“The allegations are serious and will be treated as such. The law will not be ignored, nor will due process be bypassed,” the minister stated, adding that the matter will not be investigated or tried in the court of public opinion.
“I have confidence in the competence and professionalism of the investigative team. They must be allowed to do their work independently and thoroughly, without public interference or prejudgment. Let the evidence guide the process. Let the law take its course.”

A 37-year-old security guard was shot dead on Thursday afternoon during a suspected robbery at Lida Supermarket, located at the corner of Charles and Sussex Streets, Charlestown, Georgetown.
Dead is Esan Orlando Rose, of Laing Avenue, Georgetown, who was employed by a private security firm and assigned to the Chinese-owned supermarket.

According to preliminary Police investigations, the incident occurred at about 15:15h on Thursday, while Rose was performing security duties at the premises.
Police said two males approached the security guard, one of whom was reportedly armed with a handgun. The armed suspect discharged a round in Rose’s direction, striking him in the chest and causing him to fall to the ground.
Both suspects subsequently fled the scene.
A firearm that Rose was carrying in connection with his duties as an armed security guard was recovered at the scene and lodged by Police. Investigations are ongoing.
At the scene, Rose’s wife, visibly overcome with grief, recounted her final interaction with him earlier that day.

2 jobs to support family
“He only brought food today [Thursday] around one-something, and then he said he was going to go and pick up [something]. Then, when I come back here at the Chinese, this is what I see,” she said.
The grieving woman said she had repeatedly encouraged her husband to obtain a bulletproof vest, expressing concern about his safety while on duty. She also recalled that he had experienced disagreements with the supermarket’s management.
“He is a Muslim; he goes and prays every time. When Ramadan comes, I can’t believe that he is gone. He is my best; now my breadwinner is gone,” she said.
Rose’s wife explained that she had been working two jobs to support the family and that her husband had joined the security firm to help ease the financial burden.
“Now I have to come back out on the road and look after all of this. I am feeling bad because he is my husband. Now I can’t imagine a day without my breadwinner. I need to go to the masjid and tell the imam what is going on,” she added.
She broke down in tears as she reflected on the loss of her husband and the responsibility of caring for their family.

Family man
Rose’s son also spoke about his father’s role in the household, describing him as a devoted family man who ensured that the family’s daily needs were met.
“He’s the sole breadwinner. Every morning, he gets up at 6:00h and makes sure he helps Mommy in whatever way he can around the house. Then he would drop his son off at school and head to work, as my mother would do the same with my other little brother,” he said.
He explained that he and his younger sister were the two eldest children and would have to gradually take on more responsibilities following their father’s death.
Police have said investigations into the fatal shooting are continuing.

Dear Editor,
I am shocked and appalled by what I witnessed yesterday during the engagement convened by the Commissioners appointed to conduct the Commission of Inquiry into the MV Barima tragedy.
I initially welcomed the news that the Commissioners would meet with relatives of those who lost their lives. These families deserve every opportunity to share their experiences, raise their concerns and seek answers about a tragedy that has brought them unimaginable pain.
However, when I tuned in, I saw political operatives from WIN and APNU advancing what I considered to be political narratives, during an engagement intended to hear directly from the families. I found this deeply troubling. The families’ voices should have been at the centre of those proceedings, with sufficient time and space for each person to speak freely.
One would recall that the Opposition was offered an opportunity to place its positions on record in the National Assembly. Instead, they chose noisy grandstanding that disrupted the sitting and reduced the atmosphere to what we would describe, in Guyanese parlance, as a fish market.
Having witnessed that conduct, I am concerned about similar political posturing finding its way into the Commission’s engagement with grieving relatives. An inquiry of this gravity requires dignity, discipline and a resolute commitment to establishing the facts.
The Commissioners have a solemn responsibility to ensure that the families are heard and that the proceedings going forward remain focused on the circumstances surrounding the tragedy. Every contribution should assist that process.
These families have suffered a devastating loss. Their grief deserves respect, their questions deserve careful attention, and their search for answers deserves a credible and thorough inquiry.

Yours faithfully,
Quincy Anderson

Dear Editor,
The families affected by the MV Barima tragedy deserve answers, dignity, and the opportunity to speak for themselves. Any attempt to turn their engagement with the Commission of Inquiry into a platform for party politics deserves firm condemnation.
There is already a disturbing parliamentary record. Reporting on the July 27 sitting documented opposition MPs banging tables, chanting and closing in around speakers addressing the disaster. The sitting was briefly suspended twice, and parliamentary security personnel were called to provide a buffer near the Prime Minister. This was an appalling way to conduct public business concerning a national tragedy.
APNU and WIN cannot reasonably expect their declarations of concern to go unquestioned after such conduct. Demanding accountability carries a responsibility to listen, examine information and use opportunities to challenge it.
The families’ meeting with commissioners must centre on the people who suffered. Relatives may choose their own support and representation, but no politician should assume ownership of their grief or speak over them.
In my view, the parliamentary spectacle displayed a desperate preference for confrontation over serious engagement. That behaviour must not follow the families into the inquiry process. Their suffering is not campaigning material, and their search for answers must never become another party performance.

Yours faithfully,
Ayinde Sampson

The call by Human Services and Social Security Minister Dr Vindhya Persaud for a fundamental shift in the global approach to women’s leadership deserves serious consideration, particularly at a time when decisions on peace, security, economic policy and the allocation of resources continue to shape the lives of millions.
Addressing the Forum of Women Parliamentarians at the 153rd Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in Arusha, Tanzania, Persaud made an important distinction between having women present in decision-making institutions and ensuring that women exercise meaningful influence within those institutions. Representation, while important, cannot be regarded as the final measure of progress.
The more consequential question is whether women have the authority, resources and opportunity to influence the decisions being made.
Women have long demonstrated their capacity to contribute to peacebuilding, diplomacy, governance and economic development. Yet participation in these areas has not always translated into proportional influence over the policies and resources that determine national and international priorities.
Persaud’s argument that leadership must become a “natural progression” based on merit, equality and equity therefore speaks to a broader issue of institutional fairness. The objective cannot simply be to increase the number of women occupying seats at the table while leaving the structures governing access to power and resources largely unchanged.
Women must be positioned to help determine what is placed on the table in the first place. This is particularly relevant in relation to global finance and resource allocation. Economic decisions affect access to education, healthcare, employment, childcare, housing and social protection. Women, who frequently bear a disproportionate share of unpaid care responsibilities, are directly affected by these policies. Greater participation in economic decision-making is therefore not merely a question of representation; it is central to ensuring that policies reflect the realities of entire societies.
Guyana has a credible basis for making this argument internationally as the programmes highlighted by Persaud, including initiatives promoting equal opportunity in employment, women’s entrepreneurship, the Care Economy Co-Invest Programme and the expansion of free day and night care and early childhood development centres, demonstrate an approach that recognises that barriers to women’s advancement are not always located in formal institutions.
Economic independence, access to childcare, education, finance and opportunities for entrepreneurship can determine whether women are able to participate fully in the workforce and assume leadership responsibilities.
Addressing the care economy is particularly significant as unpaid care work has traditionally fallen disproportionately on women, limiting opportunities for education, employment and advancement. Policies that expand access to childcare can therefore have implications far beyond the immediate provision of a social service. They can help remove a structural barrier to women’s economic participation.
Guyana’s position is also strengthened by its contribution to international diplomacy and peace and security through Ambassador Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett. Her role during Guyana’s presidency of the United Nations Security Council and her advocacy for children affected by war, poverty and underdevelopment demonstrate the value of women’s participation in international decision-making.
The example is important because it moves the discussion beyond the principle of women being represented to the practical question of what women can contribute when entrusted with meaningful responsibility.
As technology becomes increasingly embedded in political, professional and social life, new forms of harassment and abuse can undermine women’s participation in public affairs. Governments and legislatures therefore have a responsibility to ensure that laws and institutions keep pace with emerging threats while protecting fundamental rights.
The minister’s challenge to parliamentarians to examine whether women are regarded as “natural choices” for leadership is equally significant. Structural barriers cannot be removed solely through legislation. Political parties, institutions, businesses and communities must also confront attitudes that influence who is considered suitable for positions of authority.
Education, access to finance and mentorship are essential, but so is genuine decision-making authority.
The global objective should be to make women’s leadership ordinary rather than exceptional. A woman entering a position of influence should not be treated as evidence that a system has solved the problem of inequality. The measure of progress should be whether women have sustained and meaningful access to the institutions where consequential decisions are made.
Guyana’s advocacy at the IPU reflects a position that should receive regional and international support. The country’s argument is for greater influence, greater access to resources and greater authority to shape decisions.
That is the more substantive definition of equality.
If women are expected to contribute to solving the world’s most pressing challenges, women must also have a meaningful role in determining the priorities, policies and resources used to address those challenges. Representation opened the door and the next step is ensuring that women have the authority to help determine where the door leads.

…the grief thief
In Guyana, even grief must apparently make room for Sanction Man as he exploits the bully pulpit of the LOO to not only virtue signal but also milk the grief to further his political agenda, which is to prevent his extradition to a Miami Court!! There’s a name for these kinda people – grief thief, tragedy vampire or, more clinically, performative mourner!! Your Eyewitness has seen this so many times before with Sanction Man – starting with Adrianna Younge’s tragic death that he helped inflame into the burning down of the hotel and arson and looting in Georgetown!
So here it was – on public invitation – survivors and bereaved families had assembled at the Convention Center to meet the Commissioners of the Inquiry into the Barima sinking – and suddenly the occasion acquires another emotion – the raw political ambition of Sanction Man!! He and fellow WIN parliamentarians interjected themselves upon the meeting and commandeered attention intended for the bereaved families!! The man had the temerity to challenge the commission’s credibility – before its public hearings had begun. Apparently, the verdict can arrive ahead of the evidence – once Sanction Man decides so!!
Now, the families have every right to ask hard questions – their concerns about salvaging the vessel, recovering loved ones, and examining its maintenance history are serious and deserve answers!! Several voiced those concerns and showed they clearly possess voices, without requiring an opportunistic politician to supply the soundtrack!!
So, look how conveniently an encounter with grieving people becomes another opportunity to PERFORM indignation. While the Commissioners have gotta establish what happened, the clout-chaser can simply announce that he has no confidence and reap the publicity!! While one job requires patient investigation, the other just needs a microphone!!
This is what made the intervention look so cynically like victim-chasing – and we can expect to see it repeated at Mabaruma and Port Kaituma!! The families’ anguish offers a ready-made audience, an emotionally charged backdrop, and the chance to pose as their indispensable champion!! But compassion becomes difficult to distinguish from campaigning when the champion keeps occupying centre stage!!
If Sanction Man wanna help, there’s useful work available in abundance – assisting families in preparing questions, obtaining advice and presenting information, press for transparent proceedings, and scrutinising the eventual findings. But none of that requires turning a meeting for survivors into a political roadside show!! But patient assistance does have one terrible disadvantage, innit?? – somebody else might receive the attention!! The Barima families deserve the space to speak – they shouldn’t have to compete with a playing starboy!!
Hear nah, man – when people come fu’ talk about dem dead, got the decency to let them finish, na!!

…a plague??
From his Sunday school days, your Eyewitness developed a healthy fear of plagues – which God has inflicted on the Egyptians!! Matters weren’t improved when in school he learnt about the bubonic plague that caused the Black Death in Europe in the 1300s – which literally wiped out half of Europe’s population!! It had originated in Central Asia and spread along trade routes.
So you can imagine your Eyewitness’s state of mind when he learned that an individual at a Russian lab has died from a bacteria that causes “pneumonic plague”. Now there are three main ways plagues can infect humans – bubonic plague occurs when the plague-causing bacteria multiplies in the lymph nodes, usually after a bite from infected fleas and rats. Septicaemic plague occurs when the infection spreads to the bloodstream, and the most virulent type is pneumonic plague, which causes a severe, rapid-onset lung infection and can be spread through a cough or a sneeze!
We’re told not to worry – like with Covid from China!!

…football’s new era
While Pele may be the “player of the 20th century”, Argentina’s Lionel Messi, who just played his final game, with his modern longevity, elite tactical adaptation, and sheer volume of individual and team trophies, has gotta be the 21st century’s!!