‘I think we are richly blessed, and I thank God for that’ – Sita Nagamootoo

ALREADY embroiled in the extensive jubilation and felicitation surrounding the recent APNU+AFC elections victory in Guyana over the last week and the ensuing days, a very special couple had added reason to celebrate.
Two Saturday’s ago (May 23rd) Guyana’s newly appointed Prime Minister the Honourable Mr Moses Nagamootoo, and his wonderful wife, Mrs Sita Mary Nagamootoo, celebrated their 44th wedding anniversary.
The Chronicle extends heartiest congratulations and very best wishes to Prime Minister Nagamootoo and his wife Sita, both of whom were thrilled at having their children and their families make a timely touchdown in Guyana to celebrate the grand occasion with them.

Their three daughters, together with their husbands and children, travelled respectively from Canada and the United States to share in the joys of their parents’ 44th Wedding Anniversary, and to lend moral and other support to their father as he takes on his new and demanding portfolio.
When the Chronicle visited the home of the Nagamootoo’s early on the morning of the day of their wedding anniversary, we observed the great excitement in the home as the children greeted their parents.
Beaming with pride and joy, Mrs Nagamootoo told this newspaper: “I would want to wish my husband all the best in his new portfolio, and to wish that he would be able to deliver to the Guyanese people as promised. And my hope today is that his colleagues will support him and we would be able to move Guyana forward.”
Referring to him as the most wonderful husband ever, she added: “It’s been 44 wonderful years. Despite the hardships, the occasional ups and downs, we’ve nevertheless seen the glories and abundant joys. I think we are richly blessed, and I thank God for that.”

GIRL FROM COURTLAND
Mrs Sita Mary Nagamootoo was the first of 11 children born to Basil Kamai and Ramdai Kamai, née Moti, at Fyrish, Corentyne, Berbice on November 11, 1949. Her father, a teacher by profession, hailed from Port Mourant; while her mother, who hailed from Fyrish, was a housewife and businesswoman.
Her father’s postings as school teacher took the family to the villages of Letter Kenny, Auchlyne, and finally Courtland, where he spent most of his years. Sita grew up in a staunch Roman Catholic family with strict moral values. Her father was a senior member of the church board, hence she and her siblings grew up under his exacting rule and the watchful eyes of the nuns at church and at school.
Growing up in the neatly manicured agricultural community of Courtland was both refreshing and fun to Sita. To this day, she can recall the fun time she and her sisters and brothers had with their friends — playing ball games, hide and seek, hot-bread-and-butter, and occasionally slipping away into the savannah to swim in the pond with their friends, when her parents were not paying attention.
Having attended a Catholic school, Sita attended Mass regularly, and in time became a virtual “Sisters’ girl”. She was particularly liked and favoured by the nuns, who would have her teach summer school; and they would take her along on picnics and outings. On graduating from Lower Corentyne High, she was immediately selected for a teaching job at the St. Mary’s Carmelite Convent School in New Amsterdam.
FAMILIAR FACE
Then, as Sita approached her late teens, destiny brought her into contact with a ‘small-days’ school mate from Auchlyne Scots School. By then an eligible bachelor, Moses Verasammy Nagamootoo, who hails from Port Mourant, the village of her father’s birth, was teaching, having completed schooling at Rose Hall Comprehensive High. With a light kindled, in time what might have begun as a flicker soon developed into a flame.
A young and dynamic politician, Moses entered politics in 1964, at the tender age of 14, as a member of the Progressive Youth Organization (PYO), the youth arm of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), and soon joined its anti-colonialist struggle for Guyana’s Independence. His interest in, and passion for, politics has since never waned, but became even more pronounced.
In 1966, he founded the National Union of Students. His political efforts were not in vain, because that same year British Guiana gained political independence.
As a politician, he researched extensively, and by 1970, he entered the field of journalism, a career he would passionately pursue for the next 25 years. As a practicing journalist, he published several books and journals.
WEDDING BELLS
A promising young journalist by then, Moses exchanged wedding vows with Sita Mary on May 23, 1971, and they soon began residing in Georgetown.
Their union produced four children, three girls and one boy, named Angela, Maria, Adela and Ernesto respectively. Today they are all grown and reside abroad. Adela got married to Anthony Persaud and has followed in the footsteps of her father, having graduated from the University of Guyana with a Degree in Communications, and later pursuing studies in Law. Having been admitted to the local bar, she was later elevated to the position of Magistrate, and served in Berbice and West Demerara before migrating to Canada.
Angela Vashmini, who got married to Tony Joseph, (Business Owner & President of Muscatine Rotary Club), also initially studied Communications and specialised in Video Production and Business. She was Managing Director of Atlantic Productions in Guyana, but has since migrated to Canada, where she is still engaged in the legal field.

Maria is married to Dr Dustaff Persaud and is in the teaching profession. She has specialised in children’s special needs, such as Autism and those with hearing impediments. She is currently pursuing her Master’s Degree in Special Needs, and has already completed her undergraduate studies in that field at the Medger Evers College in New York.
Ernesto, who recently returned from the USA, is currently working at his father’s law chambers in Georgetown.

BREAKTHROUGH

Moses has been in politics for 51 years. The battle was long and sometimes arduous, but he persevered.
In 1992, Mr Nagamootoo ‘made it big’ in politics, having been given his first ministerial position as a Senior Minister of Information in the Cheddi Jagan Government. And from 1992, having found the job rewarding, there has been no turning back for him.
Between 1992 and 2001, he held three ministerial positions: Senior Minister of Information; Senior Minister of Local Government and Regional Development; and Senior Minister of Local Government with responsibility for Amerindian Affairs. And today, he’s the Honourable Prime Minister of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, where he also has portfolio responsibility for the Information Sector. He is also the Chairman of Cabinet.
Throughout his works, travels and elections campaigning, his dedicated wife Sita remained firmly committed to his cause, and proved to be a tower of strength, supporting him in his every endeavour, even as she worked as a teacher and nurtured their four children.
A WONDERFUL FATHER
Cognizant of the fact that all work and no play makes Jack a mere toy, Mr Nagamootoo, even though almost always under a heavy workload, always made quality time for his children, his wife now recalls.
“Moses is the most wonderful father,” she said. “He love his children, and even though he always carried a heavywork load with his journalism, politics, job as minister of government and eventually, legal practitioner, he made quality time for the family.
“We would go for walks at the seawalls, sit down and watch the waves, collect shells, and play in the sand or take in the beauty of the sunset against the horizon,” Mrs Nagamootoo recollects, noting that breathing in the fresh sea breeze while merely watching the waves rush to shore and out again have therapeutic properties.
Like her, Moses has a poetic mind, and was also a good entertainer in the home. He would read stories or do puppet shows for the children, or play music and teach them to dance.
And perhaps surprisingly, her husband is an expert cook, Mrs Nagamootoo boasts. He delights in helping her prepare meals, once his work load is not too heavy. “In fact, I think he is a better cook than I am,” she declared quite candidly. At times he would invite his friends over, and serve them the most sumptuous meals he had personally prepared.
ACADEMIC LIFE
On account of being preoccupied most of the time, Mrs Nagamootoo said she did all her studies after marriage; and she commended her husband’s interest, enthusiasm and the all-round moral support he gave her when she did get down to it.
With a passion for teaching throughout her working life, she taught and took great pride in it. Among the schools at which she taught are the St. Mary’s Carmelite Convent School; the Winfer Gardens Secondary School; West Demerara Secondary; Alleyne’s High, and Campbellville Secondary. Her final placement was back to Alleyne’s High, where she served as Head Mistress.
She completed her training at the Lilian Dewar College of Education, majoring in Mathematics and minoring in Languages. She graduated in 1977, after which she did her Bachelor of Education at the University of Guyana, and graduated in 1985.
In 1990, she did the Dip Ed. in Administration in Education, and soon after went into early retirement, so as to get to spend some quality time with her grandchildren.
Mrs Nagamootoo later took up lecturing in Language: in English Proficiency, Literature- Poetry, Drama and Novel, at the Cyril Potter College of Education. She retired in the early 2000s. She also worked with the CXC Board.
HUMANITARIAN
But even though she is now retired, there’s never a dull moment for Mrs Nagamootoo. She is Secretary to the Ralph Joseph Charitable Foundation that reaches out to the needs of less fortunate children, widows and single parents in need of help. The Foundation also helps a few students to complete their university education, and on Mother’s Day, would hand out Mother’s Day baskets.

KUDOS FOR ‘PM’
She has kudos for her husband on his appointment as Prime Minister of Guyana. “I wish to congratulate my husband. I think he is a seasoned politician. I strongly believe so, and I think he has a kind of intuition that tells him sometimes when something is not so right.”
She declared on her expectations of him as Prime Minister: “I would like to see him working really hard to deliver all the things the coalesced APNU/AFC Party promised the people of Guyana; such as better standards in education; increased salaries for workers; a reduction in VAT; reduction of the toll for crossing the Berbice Bridge; double the old age pension and making conditions at the public hospitals a bit more comfortable, particularly for women who go to deliver their babies and take their children there.”
Both the Prime Minister and his wife, Mrs Sita Nagamootoo would like to thank the people of Guyana for their support and for the confidence they’ve demonstrated in him (Moses), in voting for the Party for which he was prime ministerial candidate.

By Shirley Thomas