-complainant says Walrond was told

WIN parliamentarian Toshana Famey-Corlette, Forward Guyana Movement (FGM) and the Alliance For Change have called for an investigation into allegations of sexual assault and death threats against a senior police officer.

Repeated media requests yesterday for a response from the Guyana Police Force have gone unanswered.

A serving female inspector has alleged that the officer had sexual intercourse with her without her consent on two occasions, repeatedly threatened to kill her if she ended their relationship and pointed a firearm at her during a subsequent confrontation.

Reports indicate that a formal complaint has been lodged with the police. However, the force has not publicly confirmed receiving it or disclosed what action, if any, has been taken.

Questions from media representatives in the Joint Services WhatsApp group have elicited no response. The group includes Commissioner of Police Clifton Hicken, Minister of Home Affairs Oneidge Walrond, the police public relations officer and other senior officials.

The officer has not publicly responded to the allegations. 

According to a written account attributed to the inspector, she sought the officer’s assistance with joining the force after sitting its entrance examination in 2017 and receiving no response. A relative who was then a policeman advised her to meet him.

She said she met the officer at the police training college in April 2019, discussed her application and gave him her telephone number at his request. He subsequently contacted her, expressed an interest in her and invited her on an outing.

The woman said she agreed and later accompanied him to his quarters at Eve Leary. She alleged that he began kissing her and continued despite her asking him to stop. Although she explicitly told him that she did not want to have sex, she alleged, he had sexual intercourse with her without her consent.

She said a relationship subsequently developed during her initial training in 2019 and 2020, and that later sexual encounters during that period were consensual. However, she alleged that he repeatedly threatened to shoot her if she left him.

The inspector further alleged that, while they were attending a training programme in 2023, the officer entered her hotel room and again had sexual intercourse with her against her consent. When she told him she wanted to end the relationship, she said, he renewed his threat to kill her.

She also described an alleged confrontation on September 6, 2024, when she was accompanied by relatives. According to her account, the officer followed her vehicle and pointed a pistol at her after she stopped. She alleged that she held his hand and then drew her own service firearm, after which he lowered his weapon and drove away.

The woman said she had made several unsuccessful requests for a transfer before informing Walrond of the conduct on September 20, 2026. She said she was transferred to another police division on September 23.

She explained that she had not reported the alleged assaults and threats to the police earlier because she feared the officer would kill her.

Duties

In its statement, the AFC called for the officer to be immediately relieved of duties and for an independent team of regional and international investigators to examine the accusations.

“Like the rest of Guyana, we have no confidence that any investigation by the police into one of its own would be impartial,” the party said.

It urged Walrond to support an independent investigation and called on women in the government’s leadership, non-governmental organisations and women’s groups to press for an impartial inquiry.

Famey-Corlette separately called for the officer to be removed from operational command while the allegations were independently investigated.

She referred to earlier harassment complaints and disciplinary concerns, including sexual-harassment allegations involving female recruits, and questioned whether the public could retain confidence in the officer without those matters being properly addressed.

Her statement also raised allegations of financial contributions and gifts involving another senior officer who was under investigation, which she said warranted scrutiny for possible conflicts of interest. She expressly stated that she was not presenting those claims as proven.

“Rank cannot be a shield,” Famey-Corlette said. “Position cannot be protection.”

In its statement FGM placed the latest allegations in the context of earlier complaints and an investigation into alleged sexual exploitation, abuse of authority and misconduct at the police academy.

The movement said the Ministry of Home Affairs announced on January 20 that the Criminal Investigation Department and Office of Professional Responsibility had been directed to conduct full investigations into the academy allegations.

According to FGM’s account, Walrond assured the National Assembly during consideration of the ministry’s budget estimates on February 13 that the investigation had begun. The statement said Speaker Manzoor Nadir disallowed a proposed follow-up question asking when it would be completed.

“A Member of Parliament sought to ask when an investigation into sexual abuse within the Police Force would be completed, and the Speaker prevented the question from being asked,” the movement said. It argued that the incident reflected a failure to secure accountability.

FGM also referred to a report it said was submitted to the Police Service Commission in March 2020 following complaints by two female trainees against the officer.

The movement said the report found that the material presented did not disprove or discredit the complaints and that there was sufficient prima facie evidence to support a criminal charge of sexual harassment under the Prevention of Discrimination Act. According to FGM, no criminal charge followed. 

On the latest allegations, FGM said they had not been tested and must be investigated fully and without interference. It noted the inspector’s account that she disclosed them to Walrond on September 20 and called for the investigation to follow the evidence.

“No woman in this country should ever be made to choose between her safety and her job, and no woman should be punished for refusing,” the statement said.

FGM called for charges if the evidence warranted them, adding that the women who had come forward deserved justice without further delay.