The talk about Guyana today is about the substantive Commissioner of Police possibly being charged for rape. Last weekend, when the media carried the story that the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) recommended that the Commissioner be charged with rape, immediately tongues began to wag. It seems as if there is never a dull moment in this relatively small society where public officials are the subject of great scandals.

From the moment the allegation of rape was levied against the Commissioner, Guyanese immediately knew that ironically lawlessness was in charge of keeping law and order. Not only is the pending charge of rape very disturbing, but also it displays the institutional lawlessness with which Guyanese at home are forced to contend. If such damaging allegations can be brought on the person who is in charge of keeping law and order, then Guyanese must lower their expectations of the Police.

The public outcry that should be accompanying these allegations in Guyana is nothing but a whimper. Where are the advocate groups for women’s rights? Where are the voices that claim to be in support of women’s issues such as abuse? They should have been out in their numbers when the Commissioner moved to the High Court late this week to secure a motion to block the possibly pending charge of rape. It is disappointing that those who claim to be fighting for women’s rights in Guyana are seemingly silent on this issue.

The lines of public decency and professional conduct in Guyana have repeatedly been crossed as lawlessness entered the society as the new cool. Too many public officials in Guyana reside in the jurisdiction of professional misconduct and in some cases blatant public indecency. 

Returning to the accused in this pending rape charge, sadly in all his legal brilliance the Commissioner could only muster an unintelligible response claiming that the sex between him and his accuser was consensual. Ugh! It is disgusting to read a narrative that highlights the plight of a woman appealing to the chief law enforcement officer for help in the retrieval of a cellphone ends up having consensual sex with him? 

Apparently the accused could see nothing fundamentally wrong with his admission of sexual intercourse with his accuser; even after the accuser indicated that their encounter began as one of the popular commentators would say, “…as a woman seeking justice”. It is therefore no small wonder that the government has now expressed its deep concerns about the professional conduct of the commissioner.

As hypocritical as it may seem that the government is expressing its concern about the commissioner’s professional misconduct, it has every right to be, especially with the commissioner being a public servant. It would have been heartening to see this same government being very concerned when other senior officials were fingered in drug cases, drunken driving, assault with battery and other reprehensible activities. But one might observe with a snicker that the new president is offering new possibilities of public justice.

Regardless of the outcome of this unfortunate situation in which the Commissioner finds himself, one thing is sure is that the stain of these allegations will follow him throughout the remainder of his professional life. As for the woman in this, while many do not see her as Miss Goody Two Shoes, she will go down in history for bringing a serving Commissioner of Police in Guyana before the courts for sexual improprieties.

In the mean-time, Guyanese cannot expect the commissioner to do the decent thing and resign amidst this most criminal allegation of rape. After all, Guyanese might not know if the Commissioner knows what decency is.