The Guyana Police Force today issued a wanted bulletin for longtime political activist and executive member of the Working People’s Alliance (WPA), Tacuma Ogunseye.

In the bulletin, the Police Force said he is wanted in connection with several offences including an attempt to excite hostility on the grounds of race.

At an afternoon press conference, WPA Executive, Dr. David Hinds said his party colleague has been consulting with Attorneys in wake of the bulletin being issued for his arrest.

“Since the issuing of the bulletin, our Executive has been in session to plan the way forward in the coming days. We have spoken to our lawyers and that conversation is ongoing,” Dr Hinds said.

Hinds offered no clear indication on whether Mr. Ogunseye intends to surrender to law enforcement, but he said the veteran politician will not buckle to pressure.

Dr Hinds was keen on pointing out that although the Police Force is fully aware of Mr Ogunseye’s address, there were no attempts to contact him.

Hinds said the WPA is now concerned for the safety and welling being of its longtime activist and party member.

“We are on the look out for any action on the part of the police and the government. We are alerting the country that we think Ogunseye’s life is at risk. The police have not visited him, not in the last three weeks. They have issued a bulletin and we want to alert the country that his life is at risk. The police knew where to find him and the fact that they have not gone there, they have issued a bulletin, then they should treat him as a fugitive and go after him. We want to alert the country as what could be the thinking of the police. And we want to say here and now that we hold the police, the commissioner of the police and government, we hold them accountable for anything that happens to that brother,” Dr Hinds warned.

Maintaining that the wanted bulletin and the potential charges are politically motivated, Dr Hinds said should Mr Ogunseye be arrested, the party will treat his detention as a political matter.

“We will treat it as an attack on free speech in Guyana. We will treat it as an attack on our party. We will treat it as an attack on the people of Guyana who rely on their political representatives to give voice to their feelings about what is happening in their country, and that the issuing of the bulletin and the potential charges, point to the fact that this Government intends at all cause to suppress the voices of the people and to suppress dissent in our country,” Dr Hinds said.

Ogunseye had come under widespread government criticism over statements he made about the need for a national resistance to the government that should involve the joint services. He made the statement while addressing a public meeting.

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