Granger Govt has now embarked on a journey of “detour and frolic”

Dear Editor,

We as a group have not written a formal letter since May 2015. We were committed to the principle that President Granger must have his 100 days to set his foundation for the next 5 years. Even though we were very disappointed at what produced after those 100 days due to the incompetence of the Granger-led administration, we thought that we must provide him with some more time since he claimed that the economy was in such a bad shape after the PPP lost the elections. But falsehood must be exposed and President Granger today stands as a messiah of falsehood when it comes to how he has managed the nation – like a titular President who is checked out, the new Arthur Chung.

In 18 months, we have found verifiable cases of some 20 incidences of malfeasance, mismanagement of the Treasury and plain old nepotism on the part of the Granger-led administration. There is now enough evidence to confirm that the Guyanese people were duped by these geriatrics, as they practice their wicked trade of detour and frolic. We can find very little evidence that this Granger-led administration is any better than a Ramotar-led administration.

We are on record for firmly calling out the Ramotar-led administration for their blatant acts of nepotism and mismanagement of the nation. We think that we have earned the right as members of the Diaspora and civil society to call out these wanton acts of financial rape that are happening every day under this Granger-led administration. It must be opposed, exposed and if necessary deposed. And the most powerful sword to carry out this battle is the pen.

This latest nepotistic act of providing two sitting Ministers appointed by the PNC to Granger’s Cabinet with some $6.6 million per year to fund their studies is nothing but abhorrent. In total over the life of their studies, collectively these two Ministers will cost the nation some G$26 million. That is enough money to build at least one brand new low-income house for a poor and deserving family in every Administrative Region of Guyana.

Anyone with any modicum of integrity will know while serving as a sitting Minister, they ought to focus on their jobs 100 per cent. Poor people lives are depending on their performance. And this foolish excuse that because the PPP had granted Robert Persaud a scholarship while he was a sitting Minister, is utter nonsense. It was wrong under the PPP and it is wrong today under the Granger-led government.

President Granger has now reduced the management of the affairs of the State into nepotistic frolic because if he was morally centred, he would have known that the responsibility of a Minister is for decision and policy making in a government. That is not a part-time job.

These Ministers are being paid G$18 million each in wages and benefits to supervise several Government departments and at least one of them is an abysmal failure as a policymaker, in the case of Minister Henry. But yet, over the next 3 years, President Granger will have allowed these two Ministers to commit alleged legal larceny by distributing some $125 million of the people’s money to their benefit (wages, other benefits, school fees, travel, and so on) while they work part-time. But what is painful is this same Granger government continues to say they have no money to pay the ordinary workers a living wage. Heartlessness from the geriatrics.

This modus operandi from President Granger is that he and his cabinet has “the first call on the Treasury for their personal among equals”. This situation exposes him for what he really is; a political fraud who never had the welfare of the people at heart all along. Fool us once, it is on you, but you dare not fool us twice and that is why our pens are out once again after some 19 months in hibernation.

The majority of people now have no confidence in him as the Local Government Elections revealed. How dare he tell the Diaspora to stop writing? Is he a dictator? Those with wisdom will know that the pen is mightier than the sword, so why would they surrender that advantage? We leave the nation with this historical metonymic adage which says:

“Beneath the rule of men entirely great

The pen is mightier than the sword. Behold

The arch-enchanters wand! — itself is nothing! —

But taking sorcery from the master-hand

To paralyse the Caesars, and to strike

The loud earth breathless!”

Our journey Part Deux now begins.

Sincerely,

Asquith Rose and

Harish Singh