BELIZE CITY, Wed. Nov. 17, 2021 — At a United Democratic Party press conference held yesterday, the former Minister of National Security, Hon. Michael Peyrefitte, called for the resignation of his successor, Hon. Kareem Musa, who is the Minister of Home Affairs and New Growth Industries (under which oversight of the Police Department falls) and the Chief Executive Officer in that ministry, Kevin Arthurs.
Peyrefitte stated, “There is no question about it at this time. Kareem Musa and Kevin Arthurs must go and go now. They must resign, or the Prime Minister must remove them from their posts. These two individuals had the most to say when they were in opposition. Now, they have the least to say now that they are in charge of the ministry that they claim to know so much about when they were in Opposition.”
Peyrefitte went on to refer to the PlanBelize agenda, which he said had purportedly presented long-term solutions to crime and the challenges being faced in law enforcement, then he noted that a year has passed, and asserted that there has been no progress.
“Either way, you need to step down. Crime is out of control. Younger people are dying, if you notice. Brazen robberies are on the rise. Silence from the leadership of the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Police Department’s morale is at an all-time low,” stated Peyrefitte.
In defending the work of his ministry, however, Hon. Kareem Musa stated that it is a UDP minister who formerly oversaw policing operations in the country, Elodio Aragon, who holds the record for being at the helm of policing during the most murderous year in Belize’s history.
To support his claim, Minister Musa pointed to statistics that seem to indicate that the murder rate under his current leadership has been significantly lower than it was during every year under the leadership of his predecessor in the period 2014-2021, except for what he referred to as an anomalous year: 2020. (During that year, there was a 4-month state of emergency after the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.) He said that from 2014 to 2019, the total number of murders that occurred each year were 91, 102, 108, 104, 116, and 97, respectively. During his tenure, the total murders reported so far is 90.
Hon. Musa went on to state that Mr. Peyrefitte needs to check his records from 2012 to 2021.