Political hypocrisy is abound in our country today. Even as we celebrated our 50th independence anniversary, it cannot escape decent-minded citizens that the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) is narrow-minded and hypocritical as they selfishly abdicate their responsibilities to our people and our nation. Each new day reveals new and more glaring hypocrisies. In just over a year, citizens overwhelmingly have lost confidence in the APNU/AFC’s regime.
On Monday, June 13, Guyana sadly remembered the brutal slaying of Walter Rodney. I am not shocked that Vincent Alexander, a longtime senior member of the People’s National Congress (PNC), sought in a TV programme this past weekend to exculpate the PNC from responsibility for Rodney’s murder by clumsily admitting that the PNC was fearful of Rodney’s influence on middle class Afro-Guyanese. A close ally of Rodney who has many times in the past, soon after Rodney’s assassination and for years after, insisted that Burnham and the PNC were responsible for the murder, this past weekend continued the recent embrace of Rodney’s tormentors and those responsible for Rodney’s death. While the embrace of Rodney’s enemies by his former comrades, including Dr Rupert Roopnaraine is sad, it does not shock me, yet it is still sheer hypocrisy and betrayal.
But I am disgusted by the hypocrisy, buffoonish and shameless rewriting of history by Moses Nagamootoo, as he continues to drink soup from the very people who are now in disguise, but whose political party has been unambiguously incriminated by an international Commission of Inquiry in the murder of Walter Rodney. Nagamootoo is for all eternity in bold print known for his eloquent incrimination of Burnham and the PNC for the murder of Rodney. Those writings cannot be denied. Today, however, he seeks to excuse the murder and, instead, find fault with the Commission of Inquiry. He has been bought, like Judas, with a few shiny gold medals.
This week also revealed that APNU/AFC is bent on political recrimination. The Alim Shah stores are a family business that has served Guyana for almost 50 years. I have known that family business all my life. Mr Shah has never, as far as I know, took political sides. He has invested in Guyana and through thick and thin, has maintained loyalty to his country. His daughter continues to be a citizen that strives for a better country and is willing to voice her concerns pertaining to the direction Guyana is going. This lady has never been fearful to express her concerns, even when the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) was in power. But now, APNU/AFC has decided that the Alim Shah business must be targeted and treated as political enemy. The Alim Shah stores have now been shamefully removed from the list of businesses that supply school uniforms through the Government voucher subsidy programme.
While a family business that has served our country for more than 50 years has been de-recognised, the Mayor and City Council under the control of APNU/AFC have given a company that has no record in Guyana or anywhere else a more than $100 million contract to implement a parking meter system in Georgetown. Not only is the contract questionable because the company has no history of being in business anywhere before, there is no evidence that it has any experience with parking meters. Worse yet, there is no evidence of any advertisement or tendering. Clearly, it is sole-sourcing. Even as the controversy rages, the Mayor and her comrades have travelled to Mexico to continue reinforcing the contract.
APNU/AFC in a major way persuaded enough people to vote for it because it spoke of accountability and transparency. Without evidence, they painted the PPP as corrupt. They have spent almost $150 million in sole-sourced forensic audits, even though they told the people before the election that they have the evidence of PPP corruption in their back-pockets. Those back pockets of Granger, Nagamootoo, Trotman, Williams, Greenidge, Ramjattan and others, turn out not to contain any evidence of PPP corruption and their forensic audits have been unable to provide them with evidence of PPP’s corruption.
But today, APNU/AFC has taken corrupt practices to another level. Sole-sourcing has become the norm with APNU/AFC. Their hypocrisy and arrogance are ruining our country. While crime is spiralling out of control and the economy is on a downward trajectory, APNU/AFC is more concerned about who next to victimise, intimidate and fire on the one hand, and, on the other hand, who they will provide with political patronage. Fear stalks our land as citizens and businesses wonder who is next in line for victimisation. It is deja vu, the return of party paramountcy and dictatorship. (Send comments to [email protected])
