Duncan Says Surveillance Expansion Outpaces Parliamentary Oversight

By Mark DaCosta- In a statement issued on 1 November 2026, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Member of Parliament (MP) Sherod Duncan argues that the Home Affairs Ministry’s response to the surveillance-footage controversy exposes a deeper failure of governance: the State is expanding its watching powers faster than Parliament can supervise them. He calls for an impartial, credibly scrutinised investigation into the alleged unauthorised extraction of footage, humane and lawful treatment of everyone detained, and a standing independent surveillance watchdog.

Duncan’s intervention comes days after the arrest and remand of Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed and Police Constable Ryan Greene. On 30 October, Magistrate Abigail Gibbs refused them bail at the Sparendaam Magistrates’ Court and remanded both until 24 November. Police allege that Constable Greene, a 20-year-old stationed at the Police Command Centre, copied government camera footage tied to the 12 October shooting at Kitty and passed it to Mr Mohamed for G$800,000. The charge falls under the Cybercrime Act. None of this has been proven, and the defence is reportedly turning to the High Court.

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The MP, however, steers attention away from the personalities and towards the machinery. His central grievance is that he has been asking the right questions for nearly a year. In November 2025 he sought the legal basis for police drone surveillance, along with rules on how long footage is kept, who may view it and how access is recorded. In May 2026 he tabled a motion calling for an independent commissioner and proper enforcement of the nation’s data-protection framework. In October he filed three more questions on public cameras and the Safe Country initiative. By his account, none has been answered, which he blames on “ad hoc parliamentary sittings and largely non-functioning oversight committees.”