I read Tacuma Ogunseye’s speech as reported by the Guyana Chronicle Newspaper (Monday April 18, 2011) at Beterverwagting Village on the East Coast of Demerara.
Permit me to state the following:
(1) Tacuma Ogunseye’s speech was racially inciting which advocated bringing Guyana to a ‘halt’ if the PPP/C wins the upcoming elections. He said “if we lose, we are going to fight and bring Guyana to a halt until we have a national government in which the representatives of African people and the combined opposition is part of Parliament; Comrades, we are announcing the riot act.” He further said, “Once African people rise up in their great numbers, I dare the army to take the side of the PPP and against Africans. Our sons and daughters would not do that. Come elections night when the results come out, Africans must have a share in the government. There must be a National Government or there will be no Guyana.”
(2) What Mr Ogunseye is simply telling the Guyanese nation is that he will be advocating for racial riots if the PPP/C wins the upcoming elections and doesn’t form ‘a national government’. Mr Ogunseye is a member of the Working People’s Alliance (WPA) political party which Forbes Burnham once called “the worst possible alternative”. Burnham was not wrong. Mr Ogunseye is also an Executive member of ACDA and he spoke at an ACDA meeting held in Beterverwagting Village where he called for public disorder and racial disharmony if the PPP/C wins the government.
(3) If Mr. Ogunseye’s speech is fairly analysed he would be found guilty of committing an offence under the Representation of the People (Amendment) Act of 2001 and the Racial Hostility Act. Mr Ogunseye should therefore be dealt with swiftly for committing an offence under these two pieces of legislation created. Mr Ogunseye should have been in jail by now. But I guess the relevant and competent authorities are dealing with this matter.
(4) ACDA needs to isolate itself from the racial speech made by Mr. Ogunseye who wants to enter the next government through the back door without doing political work in the highways and byways. ACDA needs to publicly declare in no uncertain terms if they endorse Mr.Ogunseye’s racial speech. If not, ACDA can be labelled a racist organisation. They need to do so quickly to avoid the repercussions. The Government of Guyana must not allow the existence of racist organisations in our society. So far I am totally disappointed with ACDA’s position on the Ogunseye racially inciting speech.
(5) Kaieteur Newspaper columnist Frederick Kissoon has endorsed Mr. Ogunseye’s racially inciting speech. This must be noted by all Guyanese including the relevant authorities. Mr. Kissoon has demonstrated through his Kaieteur News column that public disorder and racial riots must be declared in Guyana should the PPP/C win the upcoming elections and doesn’t form a ‘National Government’. The ERC was therefore accurate in its findings that the Kaieteur News was guilty of promoting racism in Guyana. In his column under the caption “From Ogunseye to Jagdeo: The story of a tragic Guyana (Sun May 1st, 2011) Mr Kissoon said, “Let me be honest with myself. If one cannot be honest with one’s self, a person has no integrity and your relationship with the world becomes a webb of self-deception. I honestly cannot condemn Tacuma Ogunseye for what it is alleged he has said at an ACDA public meeting.”

These are words coming from a University of Guyana lecturer. Quite unfortunate and I honestly do believe that Mr. Kissoon doesn’t have morals befitting a lecturer of a university. I am sorry for the students of his Faculty. Further the caption of his column “From Ogunseye to Jagdeo” was badly contextualised to give the misleading impression that President Jagdeo is also guilty of making racial statements at Babu John. This was never the case, since the President was merely referring to a fact in our political history which Mr. Kissoon is fully knowledgeable about. The ERC in its usually accurate findings confirmed that the President’s “blood on his hands” speech was not racially inflammatory.