-Ogunseye says he is willing to plead guilty to treason

AT a time when the government is pushing an agenda of “oneness” to unite Guyana and ensure there are equal opportunities for all citizens, Executive Member of the Working People’s Alliances (WPA), Tacuma Ogunseye has said that his party is willing to utilise “civil disobedience” as a political weapon ahead of the upcoming Local Government Elections (LGE).
In following up on his previous call for an African uprising and resistance, which is being condemned widely by Guyanese from all walks of life, Ogunseye said: “We announced civil disobedience and we are prepared to use civil disobedience as an effective political weapon.”

The WPA Executive Member, during a press briefing on Tuesday, said: “We believe that since the government in its own wisdom summons the nation to a Local Government Elections, which by its very nature the government is asking the country and the populace to engage in intense political activity, we felt the appropriate response to the government entrapment is to turn the June 12 into a day of Guyanese resistance and African uprising.”

It is, however, public knowledge that Local Government Elections are constitutionally due, and the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) is working on creating systems to ensure that the process is transparent and effective; this includes the claims and objections period.

And although two LGEs were held under the APNU+AFC government of which the WPA was a member, Ogunseye called on Afro-Guyanese to take to the streets for the elections and “make a profound political statement.”

“It is important that the African Guyanese find a way of making a profound political statement. And profound statements are made either through the ballot box or in the streets. And we believe that the 12 June, where we will be disposing a lot of resources in a mobilisation for the elections should turn into something meaningful.

“We want Africans to come into the streets, not to the polling stations and demonstrate to the country and the world that Africans have real concerns and we are addressing these concerns collectively so there can be no misunderstanding of where our community stands. And we want this activity primarily in African communities,” the WPA Executive Member declared.
According to Ogunseye, he was not talking about violence; however, he remained cryptic about what exactly the operationalised resistance and “taking to the streets” will entail.

“Once we succeed in doing that it will change the political dynamics of the country and create a meeting of minds. No uncertainty with where the African community stands. That is what we expect,” he said, although not providing evidence of any one group of Guyanese being marginalised or excluded from the advancement of the country.

Ogunseye is also willing to go the extra of mile by pleading guilty to treason.
He said: “When we look at the lineup of charges they have been uttering, treason seems to be the most severe of the threats. WPA publicly resolved once they come with treason charges we will not treat it as a legal matter, we will see it as a political matter and I would go in the court and plead guilty with explanation. That is our attitude to charges.”

Ogunseye’s remarks comes after he was on record calling for the Disciplined Services “to turn their guns on the State”, as he made an address at a public meeting in Buxton on March 9. He is one of two WPA members who faced reprimand over remarks made at the meeting.

Aside from Ogunseye’s making violently inciting remarks, fellow WPA member Rhonda Layne, made racially discriminatory remarks about Indo-Guyanese, claiming that Indo-Guyanese came from the “slums of India”, living in “pipes” and “deplorable places” making them lesser entitled to land in Guyana.