Dear Editor,
I applaud the courage of Mr Albert Allen, who boldly supported the Constitutional rights of the Leader of the Opposition in his letter “Linden is in Guyana and Jagdeo is a Guyanese”, published (in another newspaper) on Wednesday, October 18.
I am particularly pleased with the way Mr Allen articulated his condemnation of the Mayor of Linden in his objection to the recent visit to the mining town by Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, as it ushers in a new era of independent-minded Guyanese who are now determined to hold politicians accountable for the promises they make and the public offices they hold. I will not dwell on this letter, except to say it is required reading.
But while more and more Guyanese are turning away from racial politics, President Granger’s unilateral appointment of Justice James Patterson to head GECOM, and the few die-hard PNC apologists who would go to great lengths to stir up racial tension among our people, have made a mockery of any attempt to unite our people, and confirm my suspicion that the Ministry of Social Cohesion is nothing more than a slush fund for the APNU+AFC re-election campaign.
This Administration is not interested in social cohesion, and the Indo-Guyanese ministers in Government would all tolerate the ethnic discrimination and divisiveness practised by the APNU+AFC coalition because they are the ones enjoying the “good life”. Amna Ally can be excused, for she is a life-long PNC loyalist and activist. But Moses Nagamootoo and Khemraj Ramjattan have sold their consciences for power, and have betrayed those that once believed they were men of honour and good moral principles.
In a recent letter in the press by Wonetta Jones, who signed as Secretary of a few Black Organisations: The African Cultural and Development Association (ACDA); Pan African Group (Guyana) Branch; The All African Guyanese Association; and the Concerned Citizens in the Diaspora, Ms Jones exposed her racist motive in supporting the President’s selection of the GECOM Chairman. In her jaundiced views, she blasted every civil organisation that denounced Granger’s unconstitutional action, calling them a “second opposition force”.
She accused the Private Sector Commission of being “a culpable partner of the PPP in the economic rape and pillage of Guyana.” Her rambling continued, “The Guyana Human Rights Association (GRHA) which has never championed land rights or equal rights for African Guyanese; lawyers and accountants and so called businessmen and businesswomen who have benefited in the past in a developed “criminal state” of money laundering, theft and embezzlement etc. and all others groups who are now claiming “an end to democracy,” all know and have supported by their silence the murderous and racist behaviour of Bharrat Jagdeo, who ruled Guyana unconstitutionally for 12 years.”
Space would not permit me to respond to all the lies and innuendos spewed by this despicable race-baiter, but in another letter, I intend to fully address the unfounded allegations she made: that “Jagdeo conspired with a convicted Indian drug lord, Roger Khan, to kill over 400 Africans.” This is absolutely preposterous!
I wonder: Do the African groups that Wonetta Jones represent really reflect the concerns of the majority of Afro-Guyanese, or are they influenced by a few, like Eric Phillips who has an ‘axe to grind’ with Bharrat Jagdeo and the PPP? What has ACDA done for the average Guyanese of African descent?
When this Government took away farm land from black farmers in Region 5, Wonetta Jones was not there to defend them, neither were ACDA and the other African groups. Eric Phillips and David Hinds, who give the impression that they speak on behalf of all Guyanese of African descent, were not there either.
Where were Wonetta Jones, Eric Phillips and these African groups when Government was pulverizing Afro-Guyanese communities like they did in Sophia? Hurricane Granger demolished the homes of poor families, leaving mothers and young children exposed to the rain and scorching sun with nowhere else to go. This Government remains heartless and insensitive to the needs of even its own supporters. Just look at how they are denying our teachers the “good life” they promised, and I don’t hear ACDA condemning the Government for not giving our hard-working teachers a decent livable income. Who gave these hypocrites and Jezebels the right to speak on behalf of my black brothers and sisters?
The 18 names that were submitted by the Opposition Leader contained some highly qualified and competent Afro-Guyanese professionals. If President Granger wanted a black person to head GECOM, he could have chosen one from the list submitted for his consideration. But the President did not just want any black professional, he wanted a black professional with strong ties to the PNC. That is why James Patterson was selected, for no other reason.
Ras Leon Saul is another hypocrite, who got 11 of his Rasta friends to sign off on a letter giving praise to the President for trampling on the Guyana Constitution.
I am confident that the thousands of Afro-Guyanese who support the PPP would not agree with the racist views of Ras Leon Saul, who is employed by the Granger Administration. Like Nagamootoo and Ramjattan, he’s just singing for his supper, that’s all.
Granger’s appointment of Justice Patterson is a 25-year departure from the practice employed and respected by previous administrations, including former PNC President Desmond Hoyte. It was Cheddi Jagan who submitted the name of Rudy Collins, the first GECOM Chairman after the Carter Formula was agreed upon. Then, as Leader of the Opposition, Desmond Hoyte of the PNC submitted the names of Major-General (Ret’d) Joseph Singh and Doodnauth Singh.
Dr. Steve Surujbally’s name was submitted by Opposition Leader Robert Corbin (PNC). At no time was the Chairman of GECOM selected by a President from those names not on the list given to him by the Leader of the Opposition.
Now Ras Leon Saul is urging all Guyanese to “embrace the appointment of Justice James Patterson, a Guyanese of African descent.”
And these people have the cojones to call Bharrat Jagdeo a “racist.”
In his address to the PPP’s 31st Delegates and Observers Congress last December, the Leader of the Opposition, and now General Secretary of the PPP, Bharrat Jagdeo, reiterated that since its inception in the 1950s, the PPP has always been the party of every race, religion and class of people, and this is the image it will continue to have.
“We are a unifying force, we do not exclude people because of how they look or because of their gender or which God they pray to. We need to carry a message across the villages and the wards of the city in our country that we are open to people, even if they did not support us in the past.”
Indeed, from its inception in 1953, many Afro-Guyanese such as Forbes Burnham, Ashton Chase, Brindley Benn, Sydney King and others were members of the People’s Progressive Party Government. And even after the split, the PPP has always been much more inclusive than the People’s National Congress (PNC) ever was.
This message is now resonating among many of our more educated and progressive black youths, who are now witnessing first-hand the divisive and racist policies of a Government they were duped into supporting. Now they are getting a taste of what it feels like to live under the PNC, and they don’t like what they see.
HARRY GILL
PPP/C Member of Parliament
