Sorry — I can’t dance to your tune
I WAS born on May 26, which as most of you know, is the day of Guyana’s independence from the British in 1966.

The coincidence is not remarkable but I have had fun in telling those who often ask where’s the birthday party to meet me at the National Park in Georgetown at the usual Independence eve grand flag-raising ceremony and parades.

I hardly ever attend the ceremonies in case I steal the show (ha!) so I don’t know how many turned up looking for free drinks and food.

I am also a National Awardee, having been bestowed the Medal of Service in 2000 for my contributions to the restoration of democracy in Guyana.

I am a proud Guyanese who chose to stay here and help in the fight for a better country, but I am not the chest-beating type of nationalist who will get red or blue in the face from declaring love for my country. (I am probably more the breast-hugging type!)

I watched some of the celebrations for Independence Day this year on television, got some good greetings and best wishes from the group on Facebook and spent my birthday quietly with some special people.

Like Dr. Roger Luncheon, Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Cabinet Secretary and Secretary to the Defence Board, I am not “excessively nationalist” — as he put it in his grouse with the British over their aid for beefing up security in Guyana.

I have always told reporters who worked with me that Dr. Luncheon is at most times, a reporter’s dream. He takes his time in responding to questions at press briefings, choosing words carefully and trying to tell you something in his inimitable style.

He seems to enjoy verbal jousts with reporters and seldom gets unruffled, often using his trademark smile and `Luncheonese’ language to get his way or send his message.

The trick is to read between the lines, pick up his tips and get the message.

But he is an OK guy, easy to get on with, a master at using diplomatic means to resolve touchy situations.

So when Luncheon finds cause to go public and talks about an affront and outrage against Guyana’s national ownership in negotiations with an international power like the British, an Independence Man like me sits up and takes notice.

I have studied in London under the auspices of the British Government and have found the British likeable people. They are also mostly fiercely nationalist and should understand how sensitive their former colonial subjects will feel when they tread on touchy grounds.

It’s now public knowledge that Dr. Luncheon has accused British Government representatives of being insincere and inconsistent in negotiations on security aid for Guyana and he asked President Bharrat Jagdeo to be relieved of responsibility for the process.

“Fundamentally, my experiences with the British representatives have revealed how insincere and inconsistent they have been with regards to our concerns about national ownership of the process by Guyana”, he said in a letter to the President released to the media.

The request by Luncheon followed reported frustrations by British High Commissioner Fraser Wheeler about delays in implementing the British-funded security sector reform plan.

The plan under consideration since 2007 is for about G$1 billion in support from the British Government.

Wheeler was earlier this week reported by some local media as saying he was frustrated by the delay in implementing the plan and that “some people in government…are quibbling about administrative details”.

The Stabroek News on Tuesday reported him as saying, “We have to use this money; it has been hanging around for a long time, and as I say, in the current economic climate, we need to use it or we will lose it.”

In his letter to the President, Luncheon did not detail what constituted the affront to Guyana’s national dignity but he was at his finest yesterday when he expanded on the issue and reported that the President has not agreed to his request to be relieved of lead responsibility for the process.

“…we have been honourable in this engagement…that is not to say that the Brits have not been honourable…we have implemented steps along the way that we could be proud of…” he reported.

And getting to the heart of the problem, he said that in the implementation of the plan, the British attempted to “convince us that we are suffering from a capacity constraint…a contention I would dismiss out of hand. We have been implementing projects…I can’t believe that the sum nor the technical aspects of…security sector reform is so beyond us that we have to be led…shown the way comprehensively from top to bottom; that we would just have to be passengers in this activity.

“This is what I find so offensive…This is what led me to resign. I had a fear that I would respond unpredictably to this outrage.”

See what I mean about the Luncheon way of putting things?

Read between the lines and get the message. It was a late birthday gift to an Independence Man like me.
Hip! Hip!