Dear Editor,

THIS response to Mr. Frederick Kissoon should be sent to the Kaieteur News for the benefit of that paper’s readership, however, since I am banned from its letter pages, I seek the indulgence of your paper to publish my response.

Editor, I am forced to engage Kissoon in yet another polemic something in recent times I consciously avoided doing. I now refer to his columns that dealt with ACDA and the 2020 elections, published in the Kaieteur News of May 11 and 12, editions, under the captions: “ The former two present Caricom Prime Ministers saw it”, and “ Please swear in Granger Tomorrow!” respectively.

In these two columns, Kissoon demonstrates his nasty and dangerous machinations as a commentator and analyst on the political and social life of the nation. To please his sponsors and to nourish his twisted ego, he has no qualms attacking African organisations and individuals even when they seek to promote harmony in the country. His standard is once they don’t subscribe to his dictates they will be “fair game”. And sadly in his recklessness, he does so in a manner that often can’t stand up to scrutiny. In his May 11, 2020 column, he wrote: “ I start with ACDA. That organization spoke of re-colonization of Guyana by former colonial power. ACDA was saying that the West wanted to colonize Guyana again through its position of the election outcome….” And “ Since that foolish direction ACDA went into. It has reversed gears, called for a recount, remains non-committal on the election results and has gone silent…”

Kissoon’s intellectual dishonesty and his attempt at deceiving the public is obvious. He knows that except for his reference to ACDA’s recolonization position and his observation of the organization’s present silence, that every other point he made in the above on what ACDA did or failed to do is a lie or was contained in the same statement which mentions recolonization of Guyana. Therefore for him to claim that the organization has reversed gear, etc. are deliberate inventions by his devious mind to discredit ACDA.

It is appropriate for me, at this point to remind readers that ACDA was the first African organization in Guyana to acknowledge the unfortunate developments in the 2020 elections and supported calls for a re- count in all ten electoral districts. And it gave a commitment to call on the African masses and its political leadership to accept the results of the recount. The organization also called for shared governance and an end to winner take all politics. In this context, ACDA’s present silence is appropriate – despite Kissoon feeling otherwise. Kissoon in the above-mentioned column threatens to “White Mail” ACDA. He writes, “In another column, I will explore this reticence of ACDA and show how afraid it is of sanctions because of ACDA ‘s connection to Guyana Goldfields.”

In his following column, May 12, 2020, he made good on his promise. However, my concern is with his fictitious claim: “ When sanctions become a definite option ACDA went in backwards overdrive. It supported the recount avenue and agreed that the recount decision must be accepted. ” This is not a correction of his previous position that ACDA changed gear and called for a recount and was non-committal to accepting the results.

Here again, Kissoon continues his deceptive endeavours: he is telling readers that the ACDA position on recount and its acceptance came only after sanctions became “a definite option”. I have already pointed out that ACDA supported a recount and its acceptance in its statement that pointed to the recolonization of the country. The organization’s position on sanctions was also stated in that very statement. So Kissoon is attempting to rewrite history by falsely contending that ACDA had a change of heart when it realized that sanctions were a definite option.

I found it laughable that Kissoon in all his “brilliance” failed to prove his thesis on what he called ACDA ‘s fear of sanctions. He pointed to Sister Violet Baptiste’s past and present relations with Guyana Goldfields. Without direct information on the shareholders of Guyana Goldfields, the fact that it raised its capital by selling shares on the Canadian and other Western countries stock markets, I can say without fear of contradictions that the company is predominantly foreign and Western-owned.

This fact will insulate it from the negative effect of any sanctions by the ABC countries. In such a situation I don’t see ACDA or Sister Violet have much to be concerned about. Without revisiting ACDA’s statement on the elections crisis, I recall that the point made by ACDA was that sanctions will affect all Guyanese.

And I will add that given the insignificant African stakes in the economy, the impact from sanctions will have a greater effect on other ethnicities. Readers should not infer that in the present crisis that I support actions that can lead to sanctions.
Editor, I must reiterate that I was forced to engage Mr Freddie Kissoon to expose his wickedness and to do so outside the letter pages of the Kaieteur News since I am banned from that newspaper. I suspect that Kissoon has contributed to that decision.
Regards,
Tacuma Ogunseye