Remembering…Republic Day

Well, we’ve completed another year since we decided to go off on our own since we became a republic on Feb 23, 1970!! And oh…what a journey it’s been!! In 1970, we were wearing bell-bottoms and miniskirts – not to mention 4”-high platform shoes!! And with the “Afro” in style, you had to be careful not getting your hair entangled when travelling with folks in the then packed-like-sardines hire cars!! Especially when the car radio might be blasting out Jimmy Cliff’s mega reggae hit – “(Oh baby!) It’s a wild, world!!”
So, what have we done in our 55 years of doing it “our way”?? Politically we were all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed about kicking out the “White man”!! Stood to reason that if they’d developed their country to such luxurious heights by extracting OUR wealth – with us now keeping that wealth, we’d soon be living the “life of Riley”!! But it didn’t work out that way, did it? And it should be useful to enquire as to why that’s been so – lest we repeat the mistakes in our new oil-fuelled economy!!
The first mistake was Burnham’s decision to tie bundle with the Brits and Yanks to get power. Their rationale was to keep the communist-inclined Jagan out in the cold – but going along with them meant alienating the majority of the country – since they knew they were “cheated not defeated”!! That those excluded from power were mostly from one ethnic group GUARANTEED that the Brits’ divide-and-rule strategy would be perpetuated!! It was gonna be “us” against “them”!!
While even in the most democratic of countries, governing parties gonna take care of their supporters– in a poor country like Guyana it meant taking from the “out-group” (Indians) if necessary to help the “in-group” (Africans) !! So – as we heard during the recent budget debate – profits from the Indian-dominated sugar industry were scooped out to develop other sections of the country – leaving sugar workers mired in poverty and factories becoming decrepit!!
Even problems that had been identified pre-1970 – by the ICJ which Burnham’s PNC had invited in! – such as the imbalanced armed forces and civil service – were not only left unrectified but actually were accentuated!! The divisions deepened even as the economy collapsed and the PNC held on to power through force and rigged elections!! By 1992, free-and-fair elections – imposed by the Yanks – saw the PPP entering the government but we’d reached rock bottom in so many ways!!
While the PPP have more than their share of faults – they gotta be given credit for bringing the country out of the economic quicksand. We survived a violent insurgency between 1998 and 2008; the PPP affirmed democracy by being voted out of office!!
Let’s give them their chance!!

…the Ombudsman
One of the innovations that were made in the early, heady post-British days was the introduction of the office of the “Ombudsman”. Its origin is given away by its sound – definitely Scandinavian (Swedish) – and meaning “representative” or “commissioned” man!! The question of “commissioned” to do what is again given away by the Scandinavians who attempted to govern as fairly and equitable as possible. And today continues to score highest in being happy!!
The Ombudsman was commissioned to investigate any and all public officials who may not be complying with the terms of reference of their appointment. In our divided Guyana, discrimination by the uni-racial public service and other institutions was figured to be worthy of scrutiny – and we became the first in the Commonwealth Caribbean to appoint one.
Unfortunately, unlike the Swedish system, the President rather than Parliament made the appointment and not surprisingly the office became a toothless poodle!!
Maybe it’s time to legislate the necessary changes to have an effective Ombudsman??

…Cubans
While your Eyewitness’s heart bleeds for the renewed and deepened deprivations the Cubans are facing, it’s a lesson for us in the real politik that now governs. One PNC chronicler worded the choice: “To survive sensibly or court heroic death”!