The ERC vehemently dismisses false claims by Commissioner Ras Khafra

Dear Editor,
The Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) hereby responds to the statement issued by Commissioner Deon Dick (aka Ras Khafra) on March 19, 2025, in which that Commissioner attempted to spread several pieces of misinformation about the Commission.

Decision on previous press statement
Firstly, the statement issued by the Ethnic Relations Commission on March 11, 2025, in response to a letter published in Stabroek News, benefitted from the approval of the majority of Commissioners, which is required for decisions to proceed. Commissioners who endorsed that press statement included Chairman Shaikh Moeenul Hack, Deputy Chairman Charles Ogle, and Commissioners Neaz Subhan, Ashton Simon, Dwayne Adams, Chandrowtie Sarran, and Krishn Sharma. Therefore, Commissioner Khafra was grossly inaccurate in claiming that the CEO of the ERC, Ms. Camacho, acted unilaterally in issuing the press statement of March 11, 2025.

ERC’s attendance at the UN IDPAD 2024
The Commission reiterates the facts stated in the previous press statement on the matter. In 2024, a unanimous decision was taken on January 26, 2024, at the ERC’s 8th Statutory Meeting, by the full Commission, in favour of Commissioners Subhan, Ras Khafra and Simon attending the 3rd UN International Decade for People of African Descent. In addition to Commissioner Ras Khafra being present at that meeting, he is also in possession of the minutes, which reflect no dissenting voices on the Commissioners identified to attend. The Commission refers the public to the image below, of Commissioner Ras Khafra and Commissioner Neaz Subhan at the 3rd UN IDPAD — a picture tells a thousand words — which supports ERC records that clearly indicate that there were no dissenting sentiments from Commissioner Ras Khafra prior to, or during, the attendance of the conference. Only after the African group objected did he feel pressured to now issue a statement to the contrary.

ERC’s position on the use of the term ‘negro’
Further, Commissioner Khafra alleges that the Commission took a decision to engage African groups in the discussion of the term “negro,” but failed to paint the entirety of the matter. The Commission discussed having a consultation with African groups on the term “negro.” However, a definitive decision to proceed was not taken by the full Commission, since Cabinet issued a memo to ensure the removal of the use of the word across all agencies that used the term. The Commission later took a decision to conduct national consultations on the ERC’s ‘Glossary of Derogatory Terms,’ which is being finalized and will benefit from the input of African constituency groups and all other constituency bodies to gather comprehensive feedback on the document. Notably, the draft glossary includes several derogatory words used to describe Guyanese of African descent and all ethnic groups in Guyana, and aims to bring awareness to outlaw the use of the terms included in the glossary. Furthermore, it is the Commission’s view that it would be a piecemeal approach to engage on a single term, rather than addressing all terms affecting African and all other ethnic groups. The Commissioner, therefore, again wrongly accuses the CEO of the ERC of not acting to organize a consultation on the term “negro,” while the full Commission took no such definitive decision. Rather, it was a recommendation from the Investigative Sub-Committee, which was later superseded by the Cabinet Memo, to remove the use of the word and the decision for consultation on the glossary. Hence, Commissioner Ras Khafra has attempted to mislead the public on the facts of the matter. Furthermore, the Commission urges Commissioner Ras Khafra to refresh his memory by reviewing the minutes of the 13th and 14th Statutory Meetings (adopted by him) when the matter was discussed.

Exit Interview with staff
An exit interview for a staff member who resigned was conducted by the Human Resource Sub-Committee of the Commission. Present were Commissioner Adams (Chair of the Sub-Committee), Commissioner Witter, and Commissioner Simon. The Commissioners are in possession of the verbatim transcript of the exit interview, and at no point was there any mention of “overwhelming racial discrimination of African Guyanese by her department,” nor was there any mention of anything remotely similar to racial discrimination being experienced by that staff member or others.
It is clear that Commissioner Ras Khafra attempted to defend himself as a representative of the African constituency; however, he went about it in a very unfortunate manner: by attempting to spread inaccuracies. Further, the CEO/Secretary Ms. Camacho categorically states that, at all times, she acted on the instruction of the Commission.
The Commission urges all to work together towards the common good of promoting harmony and good relations, rather than investing effort to the contrary.

Signed:
Chairman Shaikh Moeenul Hack
Deputy Chairman Charles Ogle
Commissioner Neaz Subhan
Commissioner Chandrowtie Sarran
Commissioner Dwayne Adams
Commissioner Krishn Sharma
CEO/Secretary Gomin Camacho