ANNAN Boodram does not work for the Government of Guyana and therefore cannot be accused of providing tactic support or of guilt by association. And since I’m on record as being critical of the PPP/C government much more than Clarence Ellis et al have been critical of the PNC government I cannot be accused of consenting (by silence) to the pathologies that exist.
Now as I said before, I have no reason to challenge the credentials of Clarence Ellis or the anecdotes (which, in fact, cannot be accepted by a journalist unless either supported by documentation or verified by triangulation) of those who knew and worked with him and who assert that he stood up for what he believed in as far as his technical expertise was concerned. However my research has indicated that at no time, either as a highly placed technocrat within the PNC government or as a commentator abroad, has Clarence Ellis spoken out against, commented on or even acknowledged rigged elections. In fact none of the anecdotes by his various associates, colleagues and friends have alluded to any of this. So whether it is guilt by association, consent by silence, denial of reality or however else characterized, Clarence Ellis belongs to that pantheon of highly credentialed Guyanese who supported rigged elections and whose roles are being sanitized in an attempt to revise history. Incidentally these are all arguments (guilt by association, consent by silence, denial of reality) that are used by critics of the PPP government to find guilty, all and sundry who are or have been associated with the government or who deem to point out aspects of reality that are ignored or downplayed by these critics.
Now if C. Kenrick Hunte (Stabroek News; May 1, 2010 – An unsubstantiated allegation should not be made against someone who has died) or any other person can point to facts that prove me wrong then I would most willingly accept my error and issue an apology.  Otherwise Dr. Hunte owes me an apology for questioning my integrity as a journalist and media professional and for accusing me of hypocrisy, based on what he alleges to be me waiting “until someone dies, then accuse the deceased of something he did not do, knowing he cannot respond”. So for Kenrick Hunte’s information, I did pose the question to Ellis in an email correspondence but he provided no answer. I also mentioned this issue in a letter to the Guyana media quite a while back but Ellis did not respond then either. Furthermore, the late (Professor) Dr. Festus Brotherson, who was the first and only PNC operative to document the modus operandi of rigged elections, shared with me communication between him and Clarence Ellis where the later took Dr. Brotherson to task for publicly providing the expose on rigged elections. In fact their exchanges subsequently became quite acrimonious and descended into personal attacks on each other.
In effect Mr. Editor, what is indeed troubling is that in rushing to defend their friends, colleagues and associates, some individuals impugn the character of others based either on mere assumptions or worse yet complete ignorance.