— President Granger calls on Afro-Guyanese to develop plan for the future

By Ariana Gordon
GUYANESE of African descent have been called upon to unite and stand firmly against all forms of discrimination while putting together a plan of action for the future.This charge was given by President David Granger on Sunday at the opening of the 4th annual Cuffy250, State of the African-Guyanese Forum held at the Critchlow Labour College, Woolford Avenue.
Reflecting on the United Nations (UN) General Assembly proclamation that 2015-2024 is the International Decade for People of African Descent, President Granger said 20 months have since passed and “The clock is ticking.”
He said African-Guyanese must work together to ensure the enjoyment of economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights through their full and equal participation in all aspects of society.
The international decade is aimed at promoting respect, protection and fulfilment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by people of African Descent, as recognised in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; promoting a greater knowledge of and respect for the diverse heritage, culture and contributions of people of African descent to the development of societies; and adopting and strengthening national, regional and international legal frameworks according to the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and to ensure their full and effective implementation.
Giving his Government’s full support, the Guyanese leader said racial discrimination must come to an end, while emphasising the need for job-creation and access to education for all citizens.
“I am not going to be so crass as to ask you to measure the accomplishments so far in this decade, but what I would like to caution you about is that this is the key time to organise, this is the time to mobilise and not to agonise interminably about the condition in which we find ourselves as a nation,” he said.

ALL ENTITLED
President Granger said each Guyanese is entitled to the country’s patrimony despite ethnic background. He stressed the need for an inclusionary approach to be successful and called for a forum to be created to ensure that there is sufficient consultation to achieve the objectives of the International Decade of People of African Descent.
According to the coalition leader, the APNU+AFC is committed to implementing five of the activities that the UN has approved for the decade. He said the colonial masters must apologise for the agony meted out to people of African descent. Germany has apologised to the Jews for the Holocaust while Britain has done so to the Mau Maus for torture, but according to President Granger, apologising to people of African descent is proving difficult for Europe.
“It is a very hard thing for the European Governments which enslaved Africans for over two and a half centuries to apologise… this is a hard thing and the Caribbean governments are insisting on an apology; a crime has been committed and they must say they are sorry,” said President Granger.
He told the gathering at the Critchlow Labour College that descendants of Africans must be compensated, and as such, there must be a demand for reparation.
“There needs to be now an organisation and a plan in order to ensure the implementation of that programme. Guyana will continue to advocate for reparation for the international crime of enslavement. The Government will work with other Caribbean Governments and non-governmental organisations which represent people of African descent during the remaining years of the international decade,” said President Granger.
CANNOT SLEEPWALK
Do not “sleepwalk into the future without understanding” that a plan has to be followed, he said, while highlighting the need to formulate a plan and stick to it.
The President said the ancestors of people of African descent understood the importance of acquiring an education, as it meant social mobility and a means of lifting them out of poverty and inequality.
Their belief, he said, continues to be relevant even today despite the number of school dropouts annually.
President Granger said too that any form of discrimination promotes insecurity and social exclusion that has the potential of causing disorder. He called for the plan of action to focus on non-discrimination, as there is evidence of discrimination in the past in both the public and private sectors.
“The plan of action that we contemplate must give the assurance that no group or community would be disenfranchised from accessing public services; people of African descent must be assured that they must not be discriminated against and hindered in accessing public services including housing, education, public health and utilities and most important their land rights,” said President Granger.
The President’s assertions came following allegations of discrimination against Indian-Guyanese by the APNU+AFC Government. Those allegations were made by former President and Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo recently.
President Granger also stressed the revival of village economies. November 7 has been declared the National Day of Villages.
“The villages were cradles not only of a free economy, an economy which gave rise to village markets, but is also the cradle of local democracy because the villagers learnt to run their own communities.
“It is the intention of this Government to establish a Lands Commission in order to rectify the anomalies and resolve controversies which up to now still surround thousands of hectares of land which were purchased with hard cash in the post- Emancipation Village Movements,” President Granger announced.
Additionally, the President said the unemployment of young school-leavers is of serious concern to his administration and called on the plan of action to address the high incidence of unemployment in the economy and aim at creating an entrepreneurial programme to assist young Guyanese in establishing and managing their businesses.
“We no longer have to face the song-and-dance people; we have to plan seriously for the next 100 months of the Decade of People of African Descent. It should not be taken lightly,” he stated.
The annual State of the African-Guyanese Forum was held under the theme “African Guyanese self-realisation: Challenges for the next 50 years.”
Cuffy250 is an African-Guyanese organisation dedicated to the empowerment and revitalisation of the African-Guyanese community through public education and community engagement.