In case you didn't know

Nov 03, 2026 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

(Kaieteur News) – In case you didn’t know, there is a difference between staging a picketing exercise, going on a march, and turning up with a bullhorn that sounds as if it was borrowed from the announcer at the Providence National Stadium.

Apparently, some people have difficulty distinguishing between these activities. Others seem to believe that once they have decided to protest, the laws of Guyana are suspended, the police become spectators, and the Constitution provides immunity from everything except mosquitoes. Let us therefore do a little civic education. First, you do not need police permission to stage a peaceful protest or conduct a stationary picketing exercise. The Constitution, under Article 147(1), protects the right to assemble and demonstrate peacefully. That right is fundamental. It does not depend on whether the police like the message, whether the government approves of the organisers, or whether the protesters are carrying placards that a visitor to the country feel unwelcome.