Amanza Walton, the lone parliamentarian of the Forward Guyana Movement, (FGM) is demanding answers, accountability and justice over fresh allegations of sexual assault involving a senior Guyana Police Force officer, while questioning how previous complaints against the same officer were handled.
Walton is calling for a full and independent investigation into allegations made by a female police inspector against Deputy Commissioner of Police Fizal Karimbaksh, head of the Special Organised Crime Unit.
The inspector has reportedly alleged that Karimbaksh sexually assaulted her on two occasions and threatened to shoot her. The allegations have not been tested in court, and Karimbaksh has not been charged in connection with them.
According to Walton, the inspector disclosed the allegations to Home Affairs Minister Oneidge Walrond on September 20, 2026, giving the minister direct knowledge of the complaint.
The MP said the allegations must be investigated fully and without interference.
“These allegations have not been tested, and they must be investigated fully and without interference.”
The controversy has also revived questions about an earlier investigation into allegations of sexual exploitation, abuse of authority and misconduct at the Guyana Police Force Academy.
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 conduct full investigations into those allegations.
During consideration of the Ministry of Home Affairs’ Budget Estimates in the National Assembly on February 13, Walton said she asked Minister Walrond whether the investigation had commenced.
According to the MP, Walrond assured the House that she was certain it had.
Walton then sought to ask a straightforward follow-up question about when the investigation would be completed. She said Speaker of the National Assembly Manzoor Nadir disallowed the question before it could be put.
The incident, she argues, raises broader concerns about transparency when allegations of sexual misconduct involve the Police Force.
“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.”
Walton said the episode was particularly troubling given the history surrounding Karimbaksh.
In March 2020, Assistant Commissioner Simon McBean reportedly submitted a report to the Police Service Commission 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, the report found that nothing presented had disproved or discredited the women’s allegations and that there was sufficient prima facie evidence to support a criminal charge of sexual harassment under the Prevention of Discrimination Act.
Karimbaksh was never criminally charged in relation to those allegations. He has since risen through the ranks to become a Deputy Commissioner of Police and head of SOCU.
Walton said that history makes the current allegations particularly serious, while stressing that the latest claims must be tested through a proper investigation.
“The investigation into Fizal Karimbaksh must go wherever the evidence leads. If the evidence permits, he must be charged.”
She also condemned sexual harassment and sexual assault in the strongest terms, arguing that rank and authority cannot shield anyone from accountability.
“There is no rank, no title and no political connection that entitles any man to prey upon the women who work beneath him.”
The MP said allegations involving individuals who control the training, postings, promotions or livelihoods of subordinate officers are especially serious because of the inherent power imbalance.
“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.”
Walton is also challenging the institutions responsible for investigating misconduct within the Police Force to demonstrate that complaints involving senior officers will be treated with the same seriousness as allegations against anyone else.
The latest allegations remain allegations and have not been adjudicated. Karimbaksh is entitled to due process, and any investigation must establish the facts based on evidence.
For Walton, however, the central issue is whether women who report alleged sexual abuse can have confidence that the institutions responsible for protecting them will act promptly and independently.
“The women who have come forward deserve justice, and they deserve it without further delay.”
