“Sovereignty
belongs to the State, not to the people”, declared Keith Scott, Labour Minister within the Social Protection Ministry (unless he was demoted or upgraded since), during the 66th Sitting of the 11th Parliament of Guyana, last Friday.
He repeated this statement assertively, in flagrant contradiction of Article 9, Chapter 2, of the Constitution of Guyana, which reads:
“Sovereignty belongs to the people, who exercise it through their representatives and the democratic organs established by or under this Constitution”.
Listening to Keith Scott read a speech, which for the sake of his credibility I refuse to believe he wrote, was no different than listening to the racist pandering of Eric Phillips.
In a tone which victimised Afro-Guyanese, Scott declared that “with the passage of the 1976 Amerindian Act, they [the Amerindians] were legally allocated 13.8 per cent of Guyana’s lands.” Again, this is erroneous information, since Amerindian land titling continued well after 1976 with the introduction of the demarcation process under the former administration, to map and physically delineate boundaries. Consequently, at least 24 additional villages received inalienable and irrevocable Absolute Grants, leading to approximately 14 per cent of Guyana being owned by indigenous nations.
In his pursuit of belittling indigenous peoples, Scott attacked the National Toshaos’ Council (NTC), stating: “I am surprised at the position adopted by the NTC, which claims to be the voice of the Amerindians (…)”.
However, the minister must be reminded that the NTC is a legally established body whose mandate directly derives from Section IV of the Amerindian Act 6 – 2006, a semi-political composition of each elected indigenous chief (toshao), which in turn democratically elects an executive committee of twenty members to spearhead the Council. One of the purposes of the NTC is to provide clarity and support to its subject minister. Subsequently, this incarnates a threat to the NTC’s legal authority on questions of indigenous rights.
Scott pursued his delusional arguments by declaring that the President “does not have to engage in any form of consultation” when establishing a CoI. Yet one of the founding principles of indigenous affairs is the principle of free, prior and informed consent (FPIC[DS1]).
After attacking the legal principles which shape indigenous affairs, Scott proceeded to overtly insult Guyana’s First Peoples by suggesting that the 200+ chiefs who comprise the NTC are simply greedy, and should apologise for wanting to obstruct the CoI.
“It is clear to us [presumably the Government] (…) they [the NTC and by extent Guyana’s First Peoples] have manifested an attitude of avarice, which must not be condoned”.
He further suggested that if indigenous peoples lay claims to sub-surface minerals, then any revenue derived from the nascent oil industry must only benefit “coastlanders”.
Here, Scott draws the line between Guyana’s First Nations and other Guyanese, consequently emphasizing the Government’s penchant for ethnic politics.
As he struggled to read through a paper steeped in ethnic bias, Scott took to defending Eric Phillips, whose dangerous and racist discourse was reinvigorated under the Coalition. Scott argued that Phillips’s contributions “cannot be wished away or brushed aside” since his “research has revealed the weakness in the claims of Amerindians for more lands”.
Yet, Eric Phillips’s racist agenda cannot be objectively supported by either the findings of the Walter Roth Museum or the blatant historical fact that the first peoples to be encountered by the Europeans were indigenous to the Americas, and weren’t brought to the continent as slaves or indentured immigrants. But, more importantly, he confirmed the Government’s position: to marginalize indigenous land rights by stripping this age-old and global cause of credibility.
Still, in a register which appealed to emotions by victimising Afro-Guyanese, Scott concluded: “The only reason why any Guyanese will stand in the path of the CoI (is) to allow the issue of repatriation to remain unresolved, to the detriment and suppression of Africans”.
Little did he know that, by pronouncing these words, he confirmed to the nation that the Coalition is indeed piggy-backing on indigenous land rights to promote a cause which belongs to a different forum and is moulded by a specific historical context.
With the revelation that the Amerindian land-titling project has again been disbanded until the CoI dispute is resolved, one can safely deduct that indigenous land rights are now hijacked and stymied by the African land reparation cause, to the detriment of the world-recognized indigenous minority rights.
Guyana regresses, and Guyanese can thank the PNC-led Coalition and lobbyists such as Eric Phillips.
