Basseterre, St. Kitts, August 04, 2016 (SKNIS): There are a number of rules and regulations in the St. Kitts and Nevis Defence Force (SKNDF) and soldiers are not above them, says Captain Kayode Sutton during Wednesday’s edition (August 3) of “Working for You.”
Captain Sutton, who is the Public Affairs Officer of the SKNDF, explained that the soldiers function and operate within the ambit of the law, which are taught to recruits.
“We also have the St. Kitts-Nevis Defence Force Act. Chapter 19.14 is pretty much the law that governs the Defence Force,” he said. “If it is not in the book, then you have the Queen’s Regulation of the Army, which is the British Manual. So, whatever is not in the book is in there and that takes effect.”
Captain Sutton said that some individuals enter into the Defence Force with ulterior motives such as to obtain a gun or to gain power, but they are dealt with accordingly.
“As soon as someone enters the force, you are trained to function within the ambit of the law but you are dealing with human beings and they are complicated,” he explained. “The motive someone has with wanting to come into the force, he might have it and hide it. But while a serving member of the force, you are held accountable for your actions. You are not above the law.”
He further explained that persons have the belief that once you are a soldier, a gun is easily accessible.
“This is not so. Accountability is at its highest at Camp Springfield,” said Captain Sutton, adding that soldiers are not trained to shoot without direction. “So persons can rest assure that it does not happen just like that. However, if you are a serving member of the Force, and you are receiving threats from certain individuals within the society, because of your profession, whether you go to search persons or properties with a warrant or doing security operations in the hills and then an individual decides to try to violate a soldier for that, it is not taken lightly. We are not supposed to be scared of anyone to do our job, as long as we do it within the ambit of the law.”
Captain Sutton stated that the Force does everything in its power to defend its soldiers once that soldier is right. However, he said that if the soldier is wrong, the Act comes into play.
“There are certain offences that the Defence Force Act cannot deal with,” he said. “So, we then co-operate with the police.”
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