PM Says Godwin Hulse’s Mandate on Mason Investigation is Clear

As to the actual investigation, PM Barrow says that whether he says it out loud or not, the mandate of Minister of Police Godwin Hulse, especially where the Mason investigation is concerned, is explicit.

Prime Minister Dean Barrow

“With respect to your point about suspicion of the police and their ability to carry out an effective, impartial investigation; that is part of the mix that has caused me to act. It is that, minister apart; there were police officers who were close to Mister Mason, any number of them. And that is why I am saying Mister Mason was like a virus, a hell of a disease that spread from person to person. But the combination then or if added to that suspicion, added to the fact that in the view of the public, key persons within the department are suspect. If added to that, there is however unjustified or justified, it may be, a feeling that the minister to the public does not want to see as heading the department that’s carrying out the investigation. It is in that context that I have felt I need to act. That is what democracy is about and that is certainly how I conceive of my role, but I can’t for sure remove all the officers from the police department that had an association with Mister Mason. And again I come back to the fact that that association or those associations may well have been innocent; in fact, for the most part, I am sure they were. I gather the man contributed a thousand dollars or two thousand dollars to the police football team. He seemed to be at that time, a citizen good and true of Belmopan. How can you blame the persons who administer the team for accepting that sort of contribution? But it does poison the atmosphere that in a way leads to the sense of things being rancid. Minister Hulse, I repeat, has his job cut out for him. He will have to get in there, take all of that onboard, and do the best he can working with the leadership and with the ranks of the police department to improve the image of the police and the operational effectiveness of the police—not least as that operational effectiveness pertains to this particular saga.”

Dean Barrow

Mike Rudon

“I was going to ask you in the short-term, does Minister Hulse have any special instructions to deal with this particular case?”

Prime Minister Dean Barrow

“Oh I wouldn’t say he has special instructions, but Lord he knows why he’s being put there. And nobody has ever accused Godwin of being slow. So while I have not spelled that out, you are raising it now and if the public thinks I need to, well let me say that that is the mandate. But I assure you that Godwin would know that without my having to expressly articulate it.”