The Tribune

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS

Tribune Staff Reporter

lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

FREE National Movement Deputy Leader Shanendon Cartwright called for National Security Minister Wayne Munroe to resign, saying the "crime crisis" requires new leadership.

“The opposition calls on the minister of national security to resign and a more capable and effective replacement to be appointed in his stead,” he said in a press statement yesterday.

The country has recorded 25 murders for this year.

Mr Cartwright said the Bahamian people no longer have confidence in Mr Munroe’s capacity and ability to lead the ministry.

“As the unfortunate spate of murders continues to rise in the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, the government seems to be paralysed in its inability to address the daily bloodshed," he said. "The Bahamian people are angered and dismayed that the ministerial leadership at the Ministry of National Security is not bringing the results as promised by the Davis administration.”

Mr Cartwright questioned the effectiveness of the violence interrupters programme given the country’s crime crisis.

In 2022, Rodney Moncur and Carlos Reid were hired as violence interrupters to help fight crime, according to Latrae Rahming, communications director in the Office of the Prime Minister. However, the programme has not been rolled out. Last week, Mr Munroe told this newspaper that Mr Reid and Mr Moncur were hired for community outreach purposes, not as violence interrupters.

Mr Cartwright said in a statement: “In 2022 the Office of the Prime Minister boasted of the commencement and execution of a violence disrupter programme inclusive of strategic hiring of consultants in the Ministry of National Security. It was emphasised that the ‘violence interrupters’ were a key component in the government's crime strategy.

“As the crime crisis rages, the Bahamian people are questioning the value, impact and effectiveness of the ‘violence interrupters' initiative. Moreover, the minister’s contradiction of the Office of the Prime Minister regarding the role of the ‘violence interrupters’ initiative has further eroded public confidence in this administration’s policies and his ability to lead it.”