“I know what it is to fight” – Rohee

By Michael Younge –

Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee is neither “scared” nor “surprised” at the continued talk amongst the opposition political parties about axing the 2013 National Budget, even if his sector may fall victim to what he described as the dirty politics and planned spiteful actions of the Alliance For Change (AFC) and the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU).
Rohee, speaking during an exclusive interview on the Current Issues and Analysis programme aired on Television Guyana, Channel 28, announced that government was prepared to defend the provisions and measures outlined in the national budget and no scaremongering and political titillation would result in a back-pedalling on fundamentals contained in the estimates.

“We have already begun to see certain statements being made by persons within the opposition. They don’t scare me and I still have to go in there (Parliament) and make my position known when I speak during the debates,” Rohee declared before zooming into the challenges that the government could face in weaning up support for the estimates in the area of public security, given the opposition’s non-support for him.
The minister said even though he is aware that the APNU/AFC parliamentary cluster may not “want to listen” to his contribution during the debates and “may not support the provisions in the estimates, he is still prepared to make his case, especially for the purpose of the historical records of the Parliament and the Guyanese people.
Minister Rohee explained that any attempt to axe any aspect of the budget, regarding the security sector in particular, will have a prolonged negative impact on the functionality of the law enforcement agencies and the country by extension.
The home affairs minister said he hoped that the combined opposition understands the implications of their intended actions, as he recommitted his staff and the government towards working assiduously to achieve the goals outlined in the public security sector.
Challenges
He said too that he was cognisant of the challenges that awaited the government during and after the determination of the estimates.
“If the opposition feel that they are going to frighten me or cower me, or even psychologically put me in a situation where I feel I am defeated, they are wrong,” he asserted during the interview.
Rohee soon after declared, “I know what it means to fight” as he expressed resentment for the ongoing ‘smear-Rohee’ campaign being managed by opposition elements, who understand that they could not justify axing the security sector allocations because of their perception or problems with a minister.
Rohee, who is also a People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) Central Executive Committee member, expressed “satisfaction” with the party’s stewardship of the security sector, as he sought to analyse the challenges government will face in the National Assembly with an opposition which he saw as unsympathetic to the needs of Guyanese people and the national good that the budget is bent on doing.
According to the minister, the performance of his sector and ministry remains “credible” despite the new challenges that continue to confront the government, in its aim to reduce crime and criminality by strengthening the various law enforcement agencies to boost their professionalism, resource base and training.
He therefore, disagreed with the sentiments being continually expressed by Opposition Leader David Granger that Guyana’s security sector is poorly managed.