APNU/AFC policy direction diminishes hope for the future of our women and girls

Dear Editor,
“The University of Women and Girls” – these were the first words in a photograph that caught my attention when I opened the Guyana Chronicle on Friday, February 28, 2020.
Naturally, I scanned the article, titled “First Lady lays out path for re-election of President Granger”, to read about this new university that the APNU/AFC coalition was promising.
As has been the case with the APNU/AFC coalition since May 2015, I was disappointed to find out that it was the fake university of the APNU/AFC coalition’s Volda Lawrence and Dawn Hastings-Williams and they presented a fake PhD to the coalition leader, David Granger, in what is nothing other than a promotional stunt.
The ‘fake’ degree talks about Granger’s “conscientious” and “committed” support to women and girls in Guyana.
To this I have a few questions:
1. Where were Granger’s conscience and commitment to women and girls when thousands of families were pushed closer to poverty when his Government failed to create new jobs and presided over massive firings and layoffs?
2. Where were Granger’s conscience and commitment when our young girls in public school lost the cash grant – something he is not promising to put back in place, after a feasibility study of course (making this nothing but an election gimmick).
3. Where were Granger’s conscience and commitment to women when our mothers struggled to deal with and manage the increasing cost of living?
4. Where were Granger’s conscience and commitment to women and girls when VAT was put on basic medical supplies, increasing the cost for things like sanitary napkins and other necessities for women and girls?
5. Where were Granger’s conscience and commitment to women and girls when access to opportunities, such as the University of Guyana, was made more difficult with the increase in UG fees?
6. Where were Granger’s conscience and commitment to women and girls when it came to addressing increasing crime – crime that he said was “bleeding the lives of our women and youths” in his 2015 manifesto?
7. Where were Granger’s conscience and commitment when it came to delivering on his 2015 promise to “maximise the role of women” in development?
Guyanese have been asking “Where is Granger and the APNU/AFC coalition” for the last five years. The response has been silence.
While there have been a few initiatives by the First Lady here and there, this ad hoc approach does not help or encourage the progress and development of all Guyanese women and girls. One or two things done in isolation cannot help, when the policy direction of the APNU/AFC coalition diminishes hope for the future of our women and girls.
These are the facts. No spins or a photograph of Granger holding a fake degree will change reality.

Sincerely yours,
Attiya Baksh