Dear Editor,
Following five months of attempted electoral fraud, and intense – though flimsy–judicial litigation, the PNC-led Gov’t failed in a most heinous attempt to usurp power. Now part of the cabal that emptied the treasury in its sojourn as Guyana’s Gov’t has resumed its thirst for power.
In the WPA’s recent public meetings at Mocha, Golden Grove and Den Amstel, and in the narrative adopted by some of its longstanding head- hunters: like David Hinds, Tacuma Ogunseye, and Deon Abrams, is a call to uproot the democratically elected PPP Govt by the armed services, which exhibit a huge preponderance of Afro- Guyanese.
The call to arms seems to be spearheaded by Tacuma Ogunseye — whose real name is Colin Young, and who once labelled the five criminals in the notorious 2001 jailbreak as freedom fighters, and further embellished the murderous East Coast carnage (2001-2005, the nucleus of which was in Buxton) as an African Liberation Movement!
History is replete with examples of failed coups, as, for such power grabs to succeed, the people in the country must generally support the new leaders. However, on almost any such usurping of power, the new regime served as a mere replica of its predecessor, with ensuing civil war. If democracy were the driving force of these WPA point men, then their energies should have been directed at the PNC dictatorship that ravaged and impoverished Guyana for 28 brutal years.
On the issue of kith & kin, it is relevant to indicate that Sub-Saharan Africa is home to many of the world’s longest-ruling heads of state. Some postcolonial leaders in the 1960s and 1970s sought to become “president for life,” with several managing to remain in power for three or more terms. By the turn of the twenty-first century, the trend of entrenched leadership had spread across the region, spurring corruption, instability, societal fractures, and economic stagnation.
In 2017, Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos stepped down after 38 years in office, and Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe was forced from office after 37 years by a military coup.
Two years later, Sudan’s Omar al-Bashir was ousted after three decades in power. In 2021, Chad’s Idriss Deby, who also ruled for 30 years, died following a battlefield clash with rebels. One can only imagine that if Forbes Burnham had not met his Maker in 1985, he probably would still be the champion of power today…for 60 years!
In conclusion, those who are inciting others to arms could be better off inspiring these very people to farms. It is relevant to quote the old Swahili saying: When elephants fight, it is the grass that gets trampled.
Sincerely,
Leyland Chitlall
Roopnaraine
