Dear Editor,
MY recollection of this case is as clear as day. I remember Mr Bharrat Jagdeo, the now caretaker opposition leader, was the President. He was in the process of anointing Mr Donald Ramotar to be his successor. All of Guyana knew that Jagdeo, the maximum leader, managed and governed everything, even the waking times of the kiskadee birds. Jagdeo wanted his case before the 2011 elections and he got his case before the 2011 elections. And he now speaks of independence of the judiciary.
The case was against Kaieteur News and Mr Freddie Kissoon. Freddie Kissoon wrote a column entitled, “King Kong sent his goons to disrupt the conference.” King Jagdeo interpreted that to mean that he and by extension his government, was racist. The power of a guilty mind.
Jagdeo sat at his poolside mansion as his minions fed him updates for the now infamous case. The case which he ensured was plastered in all newspapers and TV stations. The first update came as he was sucking on two seeds– genip seeds. The news shocked him, one of the seeds escaped the protective glossopharyngeal muscles. Asphyxiation ensued. Saved by the Hemlinch manoeuvre he was. The answer that nearly locked off Jagdeo’s glottis came from the nearly empty oral cavity of Dr Luncheon and it pertained to ambassadors. PPP over 23 years never had an Afro-Guyanese overseas ambassador. They had their one-time prime ministerial candidate Elizabeth Harper undertaking dual functions as Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ambassador to CARICOM. You would have thought that Dr. Luncheon would have taken the “fifth” on any further questioning. NO! He proceeded to blurt out that no Afro-Guyanese was qualified for overseas posting as ambassadors. I told you guys that Bharrat Jagdeo always loved Afro-Guyanese. This recent campaign on “Hug a black” has nothing to do with impending elections. Dr. Luncheon then made some further revelations about the award of agricultural lands and contracts during the tenure of President Jagdeo.
Today I read the headline tucked away in the corner of Kaieteur News, “Jagdeo withdraws libel suit against Freddie Kissoon and KNews.” No fanfare at the conclusion. No press conference. No beating of the chest. The three Singhs PPP paper boys not plastering Kaieteur News with letters of victory and triumph. In effect, their greatest “strategist” made another massive strategic blunder. Freddie Kissoon is not the only Guyanese to hold the view that Jagdeo’s policies were race-driven. Most Guyanese hold that view. The fact that Kaieteur News and Freddie Kissoon were able to prove their case has confirmed what we all knew.
For years Afro-Guyanese complained of discrimination. The UNDP tried to investigate awarding of scholarships. The PSM under instructions from the PPP refused to provide the data which would have incriminated them on mass discrimination; and that was not an isolated case. Remember the radio licences? Remember Berbice bridge? Remember the award of fellowships? Remember the appointments of permanent secretaries? Remember allocation of state contracts? Remember the GPHC directors and senior management staff? You see why I can never support the PPP? I remember too many dark aspects of their history.
Discrimination, victimisation and harassment are all painful experiences that are difficult to prove. I have written ad nauseam to the PPP, but cathartic to myself, of my painful experiences under the PPP. So painful that since I left the GPHC in 2002, there was a 15-year hiatus before I set foot on the premises again and that was only because my brother was an in-patient. When I left in 2002 I vowed never to return. Since I have collected my cheated grades at UG, I never set foot on that place again, despite being invited on multiple occasions to give lectures. My UG certificate, I don’t know where to find it. I had to get a replacement in 2016 and now I’ve discarded the replacement to a place unknown. My other certificates are displayed on my study wall, Granger-style.
The fact is that the psychological pains of discrimination, victimisation and harassment never heal. The scars are permanent. Jagdeo may want us Afro-Guyanese to believe that he has transformed. He has changed. He now loves us. The fact is that this display of affection is all convenient. Convenient to him. Convenient to PPP. Just show me pictures before 2011 with PPP members randomly hugging Afro-Guyanese and I will change my allegiance. If you cannot find such pictures, which I’m sure do not exist, then you need to ask the question why. Hint: the answer is in the 2012 census.
Regards
Dr. Mark Devonish
