VETERAN Guyanese lawyer and politician, Clifton Mortimer Llewellyn John, SC, CCH, who was an integral part of the nation-building efforts of Guyana, passed away at his office on Saturday. He was 95.

Born on January 25, 1925 to Joseph Nathaniel and Georgiana Antoinetta John, the lawyer-turned-politician, was elected a Member of the National Assembly, and served as Minister of Local Government, Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Agriculture in the People’s National Congress-United Force coalition administration from 1964 to 1969. He later established his own party, the People’s Democratic Movement (PDM).

The PNC, in a statement, noted that John spent most of his working life as a solicitor and attorney-at-law. He was a leading member of the once popular League of Coloured Peoples (LCP), becoming the editor of the ‘Sentinel’ newspaper, and later, as Assistant General Secretary of the PNC, editor of the ‘New Nation’ newspaper.

In 2015, then President, David Granger conferred the national award of the Cacique Crown of Honour (CCH) on him, and in 2017, he was appointed a Senior Counsel (SC).

Attorney-General Anil Nandlall, SC, in expressing condolences on his Facebook page, noted that John was one of Guyana’s first native solicitors.

“Like most professionals of that period, he entered politics at a very young age, and was part of the Forbes Burnham team that travelled to London to negotiate Independence in Guyana in 1961,” Nandlall said.

He noted that as a lawyer, “There is no one who appeared in more election petitions or election-related cases than Mr. John, from Independence to current time. He was an authority in the area of local government law and practices. He also enjoyed a large land law, conveyancing and prescriptive title practice. With the passage of time, he would have represented tens of thousands of Guyanese, moreover, the ordinary litigants.”

Nandlall further noted, “Mr. John certainly made his mark in Guyana, especially in the legal profession. He portrayed certain unique qualities: His style of dress, his style of speaking and writing, and his mannerisms were all inimitably his. He was a hardworking and tenacious lawyer, who championed the causes of his clients with gusto and perseverance.”

John married Evelyn Rose Arthur in 1956, and together they had five children.