A group of Opposition members was joined by some concerned citizens in a picketing exercise outside the President’s office this morning with calls for the Police Commissioner to be removed from office over the Force’s handling of the investigations into the disappearance and death of 11-year-old Adrianna Younge.
The young girl was found dead in a pool of the Double Day Hotel hours after she was reported missing at the same hotel and several searches were conducted of the pool.
During today’s picketing exercise at the President’s Office, Opposition Member of Parliament, Amanza Walton-Desir said the Commissioner of Police and the Region Three Divisional Commander must go, as she demanded justice for little Adrianna.
“I am a mother first and foremost, and I am out here because my heart bleeds, because like my poster says Adrianna is our daughter…and so, I am renewing my call outside of the Office of the President for Irfaan Ali to require the Regional Commander to resign, to require the Commissioner of Police to resign,” Walton-Desir told reporters.
Walton-Desir accused the Irfaan Ali Administration of playing “psychological games” with the people of Guyana. She said President Irfaan Ali needs to address the shortcomings that have been highlighted in the Guyana Police Force.
“It is a just cause, it is a righteous cause, and Irfaan Ali must understand that he has the power to remedy this. We are tired of thoughts and prayers, we are tired of sympathies. It is unsustainable for a head of state to believe he can run all over the country saying thoughts and prayers instead of fixing a broken system. The system is broken from Parliament come down and unless we the people of Guyana stand up and demand better the government will always take their eyes to pass us,” a passionate Walton-Desir said.
Opposition’s Chief Whip, Christopher Jones said Adrianna’s death, and the shoddy investigation done by the Guyana Police Force represent one of many examples of the underperformance of the Force.
“It is always a template that every time the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) is in office, you have heinous incidents of this nature whether it is shooting, mass killings, and so forth,” he said.
Jones submitted that due to the “high level of incompetence” shown by the security forces that the Minister of Home Affairs, the Commissioner of Police, and the Regional Commander must all step down.
“It is only right now for us to call for the Commissioner of Police to demit office, for the Regional Commander in Region Three to demit office, and of course the Minister of Home Affairs. Because at the end of the day, the Guyana Police Force falls under his remit and this continues to happen,” the Opposition Chief Whip said.
Leader of the Assembly for Liberty and Prosperity (ALP), Simona Broomes told reporters that in other jurisdictions, both the Minister of Home Affairs and the Commissioner of Police would have long resigned.
She said while the Police Force sought to lay blame on internal processes for its major blunder in the Adrianna Younge Investigation, the instructions always come from the top.
“They are trying to put people against every police officer and not all the police officers are bad, a lot of them taking instructions and this is being allowed and encouraged,” Broomes said.
Adding his voice to the issue, former Mayor of Georgetown Ubraj Narine said Guyana is now faced with another tragic incident, in which the police have failed to conduct proper investigations.
“The Commissioner of the Police is to be held accountable, and the Commander of that Division because this thing starts from the head. Hicken only knows to share kite and go to this function and this outreach to promote he self. He is not a politician. He is not in government, he must understand that he holds a constitutional office where he ought to protect the people of this country. Commissioner Hicken needs to understand that,” Narine said.
Relatives of six year old Jeremiah Gustave, who was shot by a stray bullet in July 2024 when two men traded gunshots, also joined the calls for justice for Adrianna.
The Government has not budged on calls by the Opposition to have those at the top of the security system removed.
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