Dear Editor,

I WRITE in response to Mr. Sase Singh, whose letter, “Is Tacuma Ogunseye such a paid hypocrite?”, was published in Kaieteur News on Thursday, December 9th, 2016.

In his letter, Singh was apparently responding to one of mine, which received wide circulation in three daily newspapers — Guyana Chronicle, Stabroek News and Kaieteur News. I say “apparently” because Singh very deliberately made no reference to my letter, which was captioned in KN as “Sase Singh repeats the PPP propaganda”. I am of the view that his failure to do so was intended to deprive readers from understanding the context of the polemic, and his fear of further exposure.

In my letter, I had exposed Singh’s dishonesty as it related to the moral position which he expressed, “This 2017 budget has caused me to reflect on a question I have always toyed with all my adult life: Why can truth and politics not go together?” I had quoted from his expressed position on two budgetary measures, i.e. VAT on electricity and water, and had pointed out that, in offering his comments on these issues, he had deliberately misrepresented the coalition government’s measures.

I further stated that Singh, by going the route he had taken, had shown that he had great difficulty in living up to what he was preaching; i.e. the need for truth in politics. Singh, instead of admitting to wrongdoing and indulging in self-criticism, resorted to what he knows best: cussing out and making nasty personal attacks on me, in a futile effort at redeeming himself in the eyes of the public.

This self-proclaimed “Liberal democrat”, and I may add “man of questionable morals” (readers interested in Sase Singh’s exploits should go to https://wwwyoutube.com/watch?v=ke4m90-rys) cited my employment in the Ministry of the Presidency as a betrayal of Walter Rodney, and went on to state that I am collecting gold coins. This, in Singh’s twisted mind, is responsible for my support of the APNU+AFC government.

However, let me say — for the records and for those who wish to check — that the evidence would show that I participated in the formation of the APNU and also the APNU+AFC coalition. I did not wait for the arrival of gold coins.

I take this opportunity to inform Sase Singh (even though I know he already is aware of this) that I am employed in the State Assets Recovery Unit (SARU), whose mandate is to recover stolen state assets which are the people’s property. Related to this is the dismantling of the criminal state. For me, these tasks are important patriotic duties in which I am proud to be playing a small part. On the question of collecting gold coins, I wish to state that with more than 46 years of non-stop day to day struggle for political change in Guyana, I am up to the task of working to dismantle the criminal state. If in the process I receive gold coins legitimately, so be it.

The problem with Singh is that he is a johnny-come-lately and a hustler who is attempting to give the impression that he has a deep involvement of struggle on the Guyanese political landscape. If truth be told, Singh has no such history; nor has he demonstrated an ongoing commitment to Guyana that can be compared to mine or to that of anyone else whom he has attacked in the immediate past. I have resided in Guyana my entire life. My involvement in politics is unlike his; his is a recent sojourn for personal gains: his brief association with one of the major parties in the coalition and his disappointment with not being rewarded in the way he had expected has turned him into a bitter and dangerous opponent of the present government.

In the Guyana Chronicle of Tuesday, December 13th, 2016, there appeared a letter captioned “Oh what a tangled web”, in which the writer sought to rebuke Singh by saying, “…It should be noted that even if the “liberal democrat” wants to launch a paper war against the Coalition Government from Maryland, USA, he should still employ the truth as his arsenal. “Old people say: Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we set out to deceive.”

There is not much in Singh’s lengthy missive that is worth responding to. However, I will deal with one final point to reinforce my contention of his dishonesty and low political culture. He spent a lot of time attempting to disprove his erroneous claim that I accused him of being a member/supporter of the PPP. That was something I did not say in my letter. What I had said was: “More importantly, he shamelessly repeats the PPP’s propaganda of ‘doomsday’ for the economy and country”. Sase Singh’s failure to deal truthfully with this fact demonstrated that he has no integrity, even when referring to simple matters of fact. To put it another way: Singh is nothing but a habitual liar whose trade mark is deception.

I conclude by saying that, very often, those who accuse others of hypocrisy are usually themselves the hypocrites. Sase Singh fits comfortably among this category of persons.

Regards,
TACUMA OGUNSEYE