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In so doing, Freddie is also condemning the late Dr. Walter Rodney who also accused Burnham of massive corruption and of behaving like the “kabaka”. Since Bro. Eusi Kwayana, Dr. Clive Thomas, Dr. Maurice Odle, Dr. Omowale, Dr. Rupert Roopnarine, etc, have all accused Burnham of corruption, the conclusion one must logically draw from Kissoon’s argument is that all of these gentlemen were anti-Burnham, anti-PNC “propagandists”.
Bro. Kwayana documented cases of corruption against members of the PNC government and reported these to the Ombudsman for investigations and prosecution and no action was ever taken against the perpetrators.
The monthly Caribbean Contact (published out of Barbados) during the 1970s and 1980s, provided extensive reports on corruption in Guyana. The fact is, Burnham was named among the world’s wealthiest black rulers. The talks of corruption included a report that Forbes Burnham was one of the richest men in the world. Forbes Magazine listed him at number five.
I ask Freddie to say what can be more corrupt than stealing elections? I direct him to two pieces penned by columnist Raffique Shah in Trinidad. (http://www.trinicenter.com/Raffique/Nov/Burnham.htm)
Dr. Roopnarine also did a film on Burnham’s election riggings.
Freddie should look at all the documents on disappearance of money and on election riggings under PNC rule. I also direct him to commentaries penned by Rakesh Rampertab on how Burnham created jobs for the boys, his lavish lifestyle, his mansion on the ECD, etc.
(http://www.guyanaundersiege.com/Leaders/Burnham2.htm).
Antiguan human rights and labour advocate Tim Hector also penned several reports on Burnham’s corruption and election riggings. (http://www.guyanaundersiege.com/Leaders/Jagan_Caribbean.htm)
Freddie also described the PPP’s rule as “worse than the dictatorship of Forbes Burnham”. Really? Nothing can be worse than murdering political opponents, taking away the franchise and denying people basic foods. What about party paramountcy? During Burnham’s rule, criticisms were not tolerated. Several who challenged the regime disappeared never to be heard from while others were killed in broad daylight like Rodney, Edward Dublin, Ohene Kaoma, etc.
And what about the attempted kidnapping of Clive Thomas? We should not forget that under Burnham there was such tight control over information that much of what happened never saw the light of day.
Freddie can also read: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbes_Burnham: “A rigged referendum was carried out authorising Burnham to change the constitution which was promulgated in October 1980 making Burnham Executive President. Burnham now had despotic and supreme powers over all constitutional agencies. Under his reign of terror, there were nightly power outages known as “blackouts”, and it was during this time that Burnham’s thugs pillaged. Among these thugs was The House of Israel, a black group led by ‘Rabbi Washington’, the American fugitive David Hill. Burnham’s critic Martin Carter, who was beaten by thugs, wrote in the Working People’s Alliance (WPA) paper, Dayclean, 1979 that under Burnham, corruption had become “a way of life, in which people were made to accept that stealing, cheating, lying, bearing false witness…was a positive sign of loyalty to the regime…”
Anyone with an elemental level of education would know that writings must be balanced, fair and objective and must be substantiated with evidence. There was nothing in Freddie’s column that meet these criteria or that is truthful or factually referenced. Freddie is standing on shaky legs when it comes to corruption and dictatorial rule in his revisionist writings on Burnham.
Clearly what Freddie is engaged in is unadulterated propaganda. It shows he is not an objective analyst or commentator.
