“The investigation into Fizal Karimbaksh must go wherever the evidence leads.”- Walton-Desir
September 29 2026
Forward Guyana Leader and Member of Parliament Amanza Walton-Desir is demanding answers, accountability and justice over allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct involving senior police officer Deputy Commissioner Fizal Karimbaksh.
Walton-Desir, in a statement, said the matter requires urgent attention, pointing to previous complaints involving Karimbaksh as well as a new allegation made by a serving female Police Inspector.
She recalled that on January 20, 2026, the Ministry of Home Affairs announced that the Criminal Investigation Department and the Office of Professional Responsibility had been directed to investigate allegations of sexual exploitation, abuse of authority and misconduct at the Guyana Police Force Academy.
During consideration of the Ministry of Home Affairs’ 2026 Budget Estimates on February 13, Walton-Desir said she questioned Minister Oneidge Walrond about whether the investigation had commenced.
According to Walton-Desir, the Minister assured the National Assembly that she was certain the investigation had begun.
However, when the MP attempted to ask when the investigation would be concluded, she said Speaker of the National Assembly Manzoor Nadir disallowed the follow-up question.
Walton-Desir said the incident highlighted what she described as a broader failure to adequately address allegations of sexual misconduct within the police force.
She also pointed to a 2020 report prepared by then Assistant Commissioner Simon McBean concerning complaints made by two female trainees at the Felix Austin Police College against Karimbaksh, who was then Deputy Force Training Officer.
According to Walton-Desir, the report found that the allegations had not been disproved or discredited and that there was prima facie evidence to support a potential criminal charge of sexual harassment under the Prevention of Discrimination Act.
Karimbaksh was not criminally charged in relation to those allegations.
In 2021, retired Assistant Commissioner of Police Clinton Conway publicly alleged that female police recruits had made sexual-harassment complaints against Karimbaksh and that an investigation had recommended disciplinary action. Those claims were also disputed by Karimbaksh.
The issue has resurfaced following allegations by a serving female Police Inspector, who has reportedly accused Karimbaksh of sexual assault and threatening her with a firearm.
Walton-Desir said the woman alleges that the incidents occurred in 2019, 2023 and 2024 and that she disclosed the allegations to Minister Walrond on September 20, 2026.
The allegations have not been tested in court and Karimbaksh has not been charged in relation to them.
Walton-Desir is calling for a full and independent investigation, saying the process must be allowed to follow the evidence without interference.
“The investigation into Fizal Karimbaksh must go wherever the evidence leads,” Walton-Desir said, adding that if the evidence supports criminal charges, “he must be charged.”
She said the women who have come forward deserve justice and that their complaints should be treated seriously regardless of the rank or position of the officer involved.
The MP’s call comes amid renewed public scrutiny of allegations concerning Karimbaksh, who was sworn in as a Deputy Commissioner of Police in December 2024 and currently heads the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU).
See full statement here:
“𝗣𝗢𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗘 𝗦𝗘𝗫𝗨𝗔𝗟 𝗔𝗕𝗨𝗦𝗘 𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗘𝗚𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦 𝗗𝗘𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗔𝗡𝗦𝗪𝗘𝗥𝗦, 𝗔𝗖𝗖𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗧𝗔𝗕𝗜𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗬 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗝𝗨𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗖𝗘
On 20 January 2026, the Ministry of Home Affairs, headed by the Honourable Oneidge Walrond, announced that the Criminal Investigation Department and the Office of Professional Responsibility had been directed to commence full investigations into allegations of sexual exploitation, abuse of authority and misconduct at the Guyana Police Force Academy. On 13 February 2026, during consideration of the Budget Estimates for the Ministry of Home Affairs, I asked the Minister whether that investigation had commenced.
She assured the House that she was certain it had. I then sought to ask a simple follow-up question. When will it be concluded? The Speaker of the National Assembly, Manzoor Nadir, disallowed the question before it could be put. The clip is attached.
That is what happened in our Parliament. 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. This is precisely how this conduct survives in Guyana. It is shielded at every level, and on 13 February it was shielded in the National Assembly itself.
The record did not begin this year. In March 2020, Assistant Commissioner Simon McBean submitted a report to the Police Service Commission on complaints by two female trainees of the Felix Austin Police College against Senior Superintendent Fizal Karimbaksh, then Deputy Force Training Officer. The report found that nothing presented disproved or discredited their allegations and that there was enough prima facie evidence to support a criminal charge of sexual harassment under the Prevention of Discrimination Act. Mr. Karimbaksh was never criminally charged. He is today a Deputy Commissioner of Police and head of SOCU.
A female police inspector has now publicly alleged that Mr. Karimbaksh sexually assaulted her on two occasions and threatened to shoot her. These allegations have not been tested, and they must be investigated fully and without interference. The inspector says she disclosed them to Minister Walrond on 20 September 2026. The Minister therefore has direct knowledge of them.
Sexual harassment and sexual assault in the workplace are crimes against the dignity of the person, and I condemn them in the strongest possible terms. There is no rank, no title and no political connection that entitles any man to prey upon the women who work beneath him. When a person who controls another’s training, posting, promotion or livelihood uses that power for sexual advantage, it is not a lapse in judgment. It is predatory cinduct, and it is an abuse of the authority the people of Guyana have entrusted to that office, whether in the Police Force, in the public service or in Government itself. Every Guyanese has the right to go to work, earn a living and return home with their dignity intact. 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. That right means nothing if those who violate it are protected by the very institutions charged with holding them to account, and it is the duty of every Minister, every Commissioner and every Speaker to ensure that they are not.
The investigation into Fizal Karimbaksh must go wherever the evidence leads. If the evidence permits, he must be charged. The women who have come forward deserve justice, and they deserve it without further delay.”
