Wild West…

…vigilantism
The murders of two men – one in Sophia and the other in Berbice – have forced the nation to grapple with this latest descent into barbarity. Now while there’s been a great deal of ink spilled over the depravity of those who inflicted the fatal beatings – we’d like to make a wider connection.
You see, these kinds of societal breakdowns and the incidents – wide apart as they were geographically and ethnically – are society-wide and are never happenstance. Invariably, they’re connected with broader movements that create a mindset in which the illegal behaviour is justified.
It all has to do with how we are socialised to look at the law and the organs of the state to deal with the inevitable disputes in every society – excepting possibly heaven. And even there, we heard of a fellow, high up the hierarchy, who disagreed with how things were going and had to be expelled. In these matters, the fish, as they say, starts to stink at the top.
Now look at what’s been going on in Guyana for over a year. There’s an election. The opposition can’t wait for the count to be done properly. They march up and down the streets of Georgetown, threatening Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) officials. The police have to use condign force to keep the peace. The police get blamed – by opposition leaders, one of whom actually was a former commissioner and another, head of the army. The authority of the forces of law and order is diminished in the eyes of the populace.
A while later, the Alliance for Change (AFC) disagrees with the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) and A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) about gradually equalising the electricity tariffs for Linden. The PPP/C and APNU worked with the system – the PPP/C wanted equalisation, APNU only agreed after it forced the PPP/C to raise pensions. AFC then breaks the rules of the (political) game, runs down to Linden, screams they were betrayed by the PPP/C (“racist”) and APNU (“sell-out”) and all hell breaks loose as APNU backtracks trying to protect its turf.
The police are called in to keep the peace, the law is broken and flouted, shots are fired, three demonstrators die, and…the police are blamed. Their authority is diminished once again. Protests now pop up every time there’s a disagreement. No one wants to use the legal system. Why are we now surprised when ordinary people take vigilante justice when they “catch a thief”?
The opposition leaders must start leading by example when it comes to using the law to settle disputes.
…City Hall
The long-running soap-opera “As the World Turns” had evidently been replaced by a local production called “As City Hall Turns”. Every day there’s a new twist but the theme’s always the same: the avaricious mayor Hamilton Green and his band of renegades holding the citizens of our (once fair) city to ransom.
In the recent episodes, the mayor was upstaged by a steely-eyed gunslinger, brought in from the outside by the Local Government Ministry. And to add drama to the storyline – the gunslinger’s a woman. While the mayor was able to outdraw all the other hired-guns brought in to clean up the mess in the corrupt city, it looked like he met his match this time.
Untouched by the dirt that evidently accretes on everyone who’s come through the City Hall swamp, the Town Clerk Carol Sooba had some old-fashioned ideas. Like a person must work for what they get paid. A real revolutionary, if you know City Hall.
In the latest episode, the mayor wants to fire the town clerk for “insubordination”. Previously, it was for being unqualified.  Now, after interviewing eight candidates, they can’t get anyone qualified. Poor mayor. Stay tuned.
…Mother’s Day
Lest it be thought your faithful Eyewitness is heartless, let me assure everyone that every Mothers’ Day the Eyewitness sings Mighty Sparrow’s “Mothers Love” to his dear old Mom, who’s still around to pull him up!