A tale of politics without morality
OLD Kai was expecting it: I was waiting for it, and when it came, it brought a weird sense of self-satisfaction, as I had predicted that Nigel Hughes would take the cowardly way out from his latest predicament.
Nigel Hughes has been officially involved in the political arena for less than five years, and already he is regarded as one of the most scandalous politicians in our history. It seems that not a day goes by without another damning revelation in the media involving this individual, who is also a practising attorney-at-law. Having observed his modus operandi in the media for several years, it is debatable if he will take the above statement more as a compliment than a critique, which underlines the growing perception among Guyanese that the Opposition is drifting down a dangerous road of practising politics without morality.
It came as no shock that Mr. Hughes, rather than breaking his silence on his latest scandal in a contrite manner, decided to come out swinging (albeit through a Facebook post rather than facing the media), attacking the PPP and the PPP/C Government (his usual scapegoats) as he has skilfully done in the past to divert attention from the serious questions being asked of his integrity.
Hence, instead of addressing accusations that he entered into a sale agreement of a property he owned while being aware that the bank had foreclosed on the said property, and someone else had bought it at an auction, he has selectively sought to only focus on the Lusignan Massacre murder trial.
Fair enough, as I will also deal with that. But we cannot give him a ‘get out of jail’ free pass when we are told that because of his actions, some 300 students preparing to write the CSEC exams are now in jeopardy for fear of losing the building which houses their school. These students do not deserve to wake up every day worrying that when they turn up for school, they will see a big padlock on the doors. How could Mr. Hughes nonchalantly ignore the mental anguish his action is causing these innocent children?
And while on the subject of mental anguish, the survivors and relatives of the Lusignan, Bartica and Lindo Creek Massacres come to mind. It is interesting how the Opposition politicians have come around to accepting the fact that the Lindo Creek Massacre was carried out by the remnants of the gang which had entrenched themselves in Buxton despite the wishes of the vast majority of law-abiding citizens there. In fact, many Buxtonians who had dared speak out against their encampment in the village were themselves the victims of these criminals.
Brian Hamilton, proprietor of a Service Station on the Buxton Public Road, was murdered by said criminals in 2003 at his business place. Interestingly enough, Nigel Hughes was accused of turning up at the murder scene and removing the surveillance tape, only to return it several days later.
In his defence, Hughes claimed that the dead man was a far-off relative of his, and that he had accompanied the victim’s father to the scene, where they were granted permission by a police rank in charge of the scene to remove the tape to make a copy of it. He then claims the tape was “sent to a recording studio” with several other references to this unnamed ‘recording studio’. It is interesting to note that Hughes’s wife, AFC Member of Parliament, Cathy Hughes manages a recording studio.
He then admits that he breached the promise he made to the Guyana Police Force of making only one copy of the tape, by making another for a “senior GDF officer” who had requested that the police not be made aware of his request. He does not disclose if this was an official request by the GDF, or whether the army rank had made the request in his personal capacity.
Nevertheless, he admits he was able to make the copy the very day of the murder for the GDF rank (Friday, March 21, 2003) unbeknownst to the Police Force, but could only find time to return what he claims is the original ‘un-doctored’ tape to the Crime Chief the next day (the weekend). Said he, “I personally attended the CID Headquarters for the purposes of handing over the tape to then Crime Chief, Mr. Leon Trim…He was not there. I decided against leaving the original with a sentry for obvious reasons.” Hughes also claimed he visited the CID Headquarters on Sunday, but again, the Crime Chief was not there.
Mr. Hughes clearly found it convenient, and did not have ‘obvious reasons’, to seek permission from a lowly police rank at the crime scene to uplift the tape, but when it was time to return it, he suddenly became aware of his strict protocol of only involving the then Crime Chief. I will also not speculate on the basic practice of using a telephone to call and confirm that someone is in office before going over (twice), especially if you have already decided that you will not leave the tape with anyone else, including several senior officers, who would have been present at the CID headquarters at the time of his alleged visit.
Further suspicion was fuelled in the ‘evidence tape drama’ when Freddy Kissoon announced on April 12, 2003, that “Two senior policemen, and a well-placed journalist told me (Kissoon) that the tape was altered.”
Suffice it to say, nothing ever came out of the tape, or, to the best of Old Kai’s knowledge, was anyone arrested and charged.
Old Kai may also be suffering from a memory lapse (it happens with old age), as I cannot seem to recall, with all his convenient, vociferous critique of the Guyana Police Force, Mr. Hughes being upset that after all these years, the killers of his ‘far-off relative’ have not been brought to justice. His silence is deafening!
In an unrelated (or maybe not) matter, we are told by the media that two employees of a prominent attorney-at-law were gunned down the following month, in April 2003. The men, Orin Shultz and Gladwin Fecker, were killed on Joseph Pollydore Street, in Lodge.
It would be interesting to know the identity of this attorney, and if there was any link. Old Kai is equally in the dark as to the identity of this attorney, and what were the circumstances surrounding the murder of the men.
(To be continued…)