Dear Editor:
IN reference to an article published in the Guyana Chronicle on November 8, 2019 and titled “PPP abused, exploited Toshaos,” Lenox Shuman, Chairperson, Liberal and Justice Party (LJP), made disparaging remarks about me and the office I once held.
Whilst it is the stated position of the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) that it will not engage in attacks on the smaller emerging political parties, for we feel there is space in the PPP/C to accommodate these smaller parties, it will be remiss of me not to respond to Shuman’s vitriol, since he singled me out.

His reported comments towards me and the office I once held, including staff with whom I served, the majority of whom were Amerindians, are wholly false, totally malicious and patently disingenuous.
Shuman is reported as saying, “Many of the chiefs, many of the toshaos who visited the Ministry of Amerindian People’s Affairs during the PPP’s tenure were cursed and chased out, and verbally abused by the then Permanent Secretary, Nigel Dharamlall.”
Editor, during my tenure, which ended in May 2015, anyone who worked with me can attest to the immediate attention I gave to any visiting toshao / village representative to my office. During my time in office, Shuman was not a chief or toshao. As a matter of fact, I only first met Shuman in 2016; as such, his utterances are a figment of his devious imagination.

The recent announcement by Shuman though, that he held talks to join his party, LJP, with the PNC-led APNU, is probably the raison d’etre of his unhinged comments. Personal attacks are a well-known political strategy of the APNU+AFC perpetuated by its mouthpiece, the much-maligned Guyana Chronicle.
It was only last year this very Guyana Chronicle carried articles detailing Shuman’s mismanagement of his village council and village affairs during his unsuccessful tenure as a one-term toshao. Now, the Guyana Chronicle has become the trumpet of Shuman, which clearly establishes a formal link between Shuman and the PNC-led APNU.

So whilst Shuman wallows in the unsuccessful modus operandi of the APNU+AFC, I will remain on the high ground with the PPP/C and continue to serve my country with unwavering distinction. Editor, let it be known that I do possess a tremendous lot of credible information on Shuman that can cause his political aspirations to quickly dissipate, but I will not indulge in a tit-for-tat with someone who is currently an imposter and not yet qualified to stand for public office in Guyana. I do wish Shuman well and I remain hopeful that the renunciation of his Canadian citizenship will be successful to allow him to contest the upcoming national elections.
Yours faithfully,
Nigel Dharamlall M.P.
PPP/C