Dear editor,
IT was American Poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow who coined the infamous quote, “Whom the Gods would destroy they first make them mad.”

This quote quite frequently reverberated my teenaged eardrums in heated political debates, but the meaning evaded my developing cerebral cortex; this would, however, change. No sooner had I taken the sacred Hippocratic Oath when the penny dropped. Now armed with the post-nominal MBBS, my repertoire of medical diagnoses was quite extensive. Neurosyphilis, by now considered the rare, weird and wonderful was a part of my armoury of sophisticated medical jargon to confusticate the honorary doctors and those masquerading with fake Phds.

You see, neurosyphilis develops from primary syphilis and is characterised by irrational behaviour. It is believed that it afflicted many famous or infamous leaders, depending on which retrospective lens you choose to use. Napoleon, Hitler and Al Capone counted in that disreputable black book. Now older and university wiser, I was on my way to deciphering Mr. Longfellow’s discombobulating quote. You see by now, I was very much aware of the fact that in that tragic period, most medical ailments were treated with bloodletting since antibiotics were still part of the mysterious unknowns. Syphilis was no exemption from this haemorrhagic  habit. As a result those afflicted counted their years without adequate treatment to the inevitable neurosyphilis, which is characterised by hyperactive dementia.

The local vernacular was not that kind as the disparaging and painfully discriminatory word “mad” was used. It is this tragic end that awaited these powerful leaders, as neurosyphilis reduced them to irrational “mad men” and ultimately forfeiture of power.

Presently in Guyana, this 19th century malady seems to be making a concerning resurgence in the rich and famous. Why should such a malady revisit us when we are blessed with powerful Treponema Pallidum Spirochete killing penicillins antibiotics? I am uncertain and do recognise that I may very well be wrong in my conclusion; hence, I will share the evidence with you to provide that second opinion.

A few days ago Gerry Gouveia, the Chairman of the PSC, recently renamed the, Private Sanctions Commission, had this to say about national recount, “Plain and simple. Count every single vote in every box in every single region in a transparent manner under the supervision of international and local observers.” So the Madam Chairperson of GECOM on hearing this responded “We heard you Gerry. We will recount from Region One-10, just as you instructed us.” Gerry on receiving news of the Madam Chairperson’s plans rushed out on his verandah and shouted, “That’s an entire waste of time. Count only Region Four.” You see for centuries Gerry was crying to all things breathing, even the fishes, that all votes should be valued and should be counted. As a result, the question on the lips of all perplexed followers of this election is, what motivated this irrational and seismic change in Gerry’s position? Is our stalwart Gerry afflicted with neurosyphillis?

This case is somewhat intriguing and involves “Scottish blood” Bryan Mac Intosh, the de facto leader of Guardians of Democracy. Mind you, the title is a tragic misnomer, since they were not guarding democracy, they were foolishly guarding a few ballot boxes. Anyway, over the past few weeks, Bryan was drinking the PPP’s soup faster than Starving Marvin of South Park. He talked all things PPP. He breathed all things PPP. He slept on the streets with the deadly Coronavirus for the PPP. Only Monday he was a one-man protest on the desolate streets fighting for democracy for the PPP. For him, Bharrat was god and Irfaan his deputy. Anil was the legal adviser to the gods. All that was left for this loyal subject to reaffirm his allegiance to the gods was to donate both his kidneys. Then shockingly, 15 minutes after he pledged this allegiance he recorded a new video where he was blasphemously cursing the gods, reducing them to male and female genitalia. He disparagingly accused the god of sitting on the lap of his legal adviser. Then he did the ultimate. He denigrated the sacred cup. The masses were astonished, so too were the gods. No one saw it coming. Not even the great Nostradamus could have predicted this Shakespearean drama. What could have triggered this earth-shattering shift in Bryan’s position? Are we looking at a second suspected case of neurosyphillis?

This one takes the cake and unsurprisingly involved the PPP GECOM Commissioner Sase Gunraj, who I do respectfully refer to as “suit guy,” since a suit is his permanent attire even when the temperatures are above 40 degrees Celsius.

Guyana is not exempted from the deadly COVID-19 as so far it has left five fatalities in its wake. PAHO recognised the danger and scared the hell out of our Minister of Public Health Volda Lawrence by informing her that there can be as much as 20,000 deaths if she does not lockdown the country. You see the Honourable Minister was ambivalent about doing so, being all too aware of the economic, social and psychological consequences, but after being provided with those scary numbers she recognised and took her duty of care to us seriously. As a result, Guyana was placed under lockdown where only police, thieves and COVID-19 roam our streets. This coincidentally was the very day GECOM agreed to do a recount. “Suit guy,” looking dapper in his suit in 40 degrees butter-melting and brain-frying  temperatures, opined at an invited interview that he is “very suspicious” of the lockdown.
He questioned why now and not later. Seriously “suit guy”? You are surprised when the entire world is under lock and key and Guyana belatedly joining them? I am completely gobsmacked with “suit guy’s” assertion and I’m struggling to determine whether he has just fried all his brain in the heat of the sun, whether he is just downright foolish or if he may be our third suspected case of neurosyphillis?

So here we have three cases, three diagnostic enigmas. Are they the psychological consequences of the lockdown? Are they cases of neurosyphillis? Or are they unfortunate cases resulting from Bharrat providing conflicting and inconsistent instructions?

Regards
Dr. Mark Devonish