Dear Editor,
I WRITE to offer a brief response to Mr. Freddie Kissoon’s column in Kaieteur News of Wednesday, June 15th, 2016, captioned “The new PNC is sending confusing signals.” Objectively, Mr. Kissoon raised many important issues relative to the APNU+AFC coalition attitude to governance at both the central and local government levels, and the responsibility of political parties in the coalition. It is my opinion that this column stands out as one of the better political columns written by Kissoon in recent times.
However, my primary reason for penning this letter is to correct Kissoon’s misrepresentation of information on three matters he raised in relation to the WPA. I also want to take this opportunity to ask him a question on the Region Two REO matter.
My first concern is rooted in Kissoon’s statement, “But for all intents and purposes, the WPA seems to be one man only – Dr. David Hinds. It is only Hinds from the WPA that has pronounced on the mistreatment of vendors.” Contrary to Kissoon’s utterance, the public record will show that the WPA’s position on City Hall’s handling of the vendors issue was enunciated long before Dr. Hinds spoke on the matter. The treatment of the vendors was condemned on the Walter Rodney Groundings programme by Deon Abrams, Desmond Trot man and I when we spoke extensively on this issue.
(2) in his column, Kissoon went on to state that “Hinds is the only one from the WPA that thinks prosecution needs to be pursued out of the findings of the forensic audit.” As in the case of the vendors’ matter, the three persons referred to above, again on Groundings on several occasions, dealt with the need for the government to prosecute offenders against whom compelling evidence of wrongdoing exists.
(3) My third concern is when Kissooon said: “Hinds is the only one from the WPA that is talking about the Walter Rodney Commission report.” The record will show that the WPA had put out a comprehensive statement on its attitude to the Rodney CoI report. I believe Mr. Editor, that columnist Freddie Kissoon is well aware of what the WPA has done on the three issues referred to, but for reasons best known to himself chooses to deliberately disregard our efforts. What game is he playing?
The final issue I wish to address is Kissoon’s attiude towards the Region Two REO matter. He appears to be very comfortable in joining with the PPP/C and AFC councillors in their accusations against Mr. Hopkinson, without first seeking his side of the story. If he did, he would discover as I have, that there is tremendous evidence of serious wrongdoing on the part of a number of highly placed officials in the Region Two administration. To all appearances, Hopkinson seems to have aroused the wrath of councillors on both sides of the divide who have an interest in the status quo remaining unchanged. My humble advice to my friend and comrade, Freddie Kissoon, is that he should be careful in his quest to play political games with the public, lest he undermines his own integrity.
Regards
Tacuma Ogunseye