–Hughes maintains that the party does not have a definitive position despite mounting condemnation

THE Alliance For Change (AFC) continues to skirt around the racist and incendiary remarks made by Working People’s Alliance (WPA) Executive Member, Tacuma Ogunseye, who surrendered himself to the police on Friday.

Chairperson of the AFC, Cathy Hughes, said that the AFC will make its position on the arrest of Ogunseye known over the weekend.

Hughes made this remark during the AFC’s virtual press conference on Friday, when she noted that all Guyanese should listen to Ogunseye’s complete presentation for the remarks that are attracting condemnation.

She added that the AFC does not have a definitive position on the issue and will be preparing a statement over the weekend even as she noted that there are some considerations that she would be willing to raise.

“Those considerations are firstly, we need to ensure that … all Guyanese actually listen to the complete presentation and the offending statement literally appears in the last three minutes of Mr Ogunseye’s presentation,” the party’s chairperson said.

She added that it is “worrying” that Ogunseye reportedly made reference to a discussion he had with someone.

Hughes said: “He makes reference to the fact that he had a discussion and with a ‘white diplomat.’ Those are the words he used so I’m quoting that and he mentions that the comment that we seem to be referring to was spoken by that person. The fact it is worrying that in a lot of the reports we see the comment being attributed to Mr Ogunseye although, in the actual speech, he starts by saying he had a conversation how much ever years ago and this is what he alleges and attributed to the person.”

The Guyana Police Force (GPF), on Thursday, issued a wanted bulletin for Ogunseye for several offences which included attempting to incite racial hostility in Guyana.
According to the bulletin, he attempted to incite hostility or ill will on the grounds of race during a meeting at Buxton, East Coast Demerara, on March 9, 2023.

At the public meeting, Ogunseye made incendiary remarks about Guyana’s Indo-Guyanese and called for the Disciplined Services “to turn their guns on the State.”
He also called for a day of “National Resistance” on June 12, 2013, when the Local Government Elections (LGE) will be held.