BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – COMMANDER of the St. Kitts-Nevis Defence Force, Lieutenant Colonel (Lt Col) Patrick Wallace is insisting that none of his soldiers deployed on Election Day were armed with M16 Rifles, contrary to recent photographs sent to SKNVibes.
Wallace appeared on radio station WINN FM Saturday (Mar. 13) to dismiss sections of the NGO observer report, which stated that military personnel present in Constituency Four had transported civilians around to vote and carried assault rifles.
“From 0700 to 1800, there was no solider deployed for duty at any polling station with an M16 rifle,” he claimed. “The only soldiers with them were those who left the camp at around 1700 hours to help transport ballot boxes to and provide security around the counting stations.”
However, shortly after Wallace’s denial, SKNVibes received three photographs of a soldier clearly armed with a M16 Rifle in Halfway Tree. When contacted yesterday (Mar. 15), Wallace confirmed that it was one of his men but said he was not a member of the Election Day team.
According to the Commander, there were 12 soldiers (four each in Constituencies Four, Five and Eight) deployed on specific election detail. In addition, there was an eight-man contingent patrolling the island to contain any potential threats from gang violence.
Soldiers in that patrol unit were armed with M16 Rifles, but Wallace was adamant that he did not consider them as part of the election deployment.
“The solider in the photos was carrying the standard military firearm, the M16, because it was his job to be on the lookout. If, as it appears, he did leave the vehicle in Halfway Tree, it was probably only for a short while, and that’s what the pictures represent. He was not deployed to election duty.
“I stand by what I said on Saturday about there being absolutely no soldiers on election deployment that had M16s,” he stressed. “There was one person in each team of four with a .45 pistol or a Baretta Pistol, but that’s it. There were only 21 soldiers out on Election Day in total.”
Lindsay Grant, the People’s Action Movement (PAM) Leader who contested Constituency Four, called Wallace’s explanation “senseless” and said the Lt Col was obviously pushing the government’s agenda. Grant has a court case pending against the election results in that constituency, which he lost by 29 votes to the Labour Party’s Hon. Glenn Phillip.
“The government must suspect that some of the information about the security forces’ actions on Election Day may come up in the court hearing. They were there trying to make sure that persons illegally registered got to vote.
“Their behaviour towards PAM supporters was crude and unprofessional. I saw at least two persons manhandled by the police. One gentleman was boxed in the face in Halfway Tree and another was arrested in Old Road.”
Grant explained that he was in the area for the entire day, and said that police and army personnel had been present for “hours on end”. He also claimed there were over 20 soldiers in his constituency alone, a statement Wallace later denied to SKNVibes.
Numerous attempts to contact Hon. Phillip were unsuccessful.
The Labour Party won six of the eight St. Kitts electoral Seats in the January 25 Election, with PAM garnering victory in Constituencies Five and Eight.
In addition to Grant’s objections, challenges have been filed by the Labour Party against his party’s two successful candidates, Hon. Shawn Richards and Hon. Eugene Hamilton.
