The guest on the Gildarie-Freddie Kissoon Show last Monday was PNC Parliamentarian, Coretta Mc Donald. This is someone I have known for a long time and we shared activist years together. Norris Witter about a year ago was the guest on the same show. Norris and I shared activist years together as well.

I can name Norris and Coretta because what they had to say about the March 2020 elections can be heard by anyone going to YouTube and looking at their pronunciations. I can’t name the prominent African rights activist that I have also known for “donkey years.” In fact, we got to know each other in 1974 when we both entered UG. We remained friends since then and once operated together on the same political terrain.

I cannot name him because if he denies what he told me about the March 2020 election, he can sue. I should identify him because he should be bold enough to let the public know how he saw the 2020 general elections. I have an obligation to the Guyana Chronicle to avoid libel. But I will identify him when next I am the Gildarie-Freddie Kissoon Show.

What do these three persons have in common as it relates to me? We will start with Norris. He spoke at length about what he saw as government’s violations of laws and norms. I asked him for evidence, and he replied that it was there for all to see. Then I asked him if there is evidence to prove that the 2020 national election was rigged. He said he does not have any evidence about rigging in the election. He actually asked where such evidence is.

Coretta went on and on about the gloom and doom in Guyana. She was completely rejectionist in her attitude towards the government. She wants democracy for Guyana, she claimed. Then I asked her about the loss of democracy during the rigging of the general poll of March 2020. Coretta in an upbeat mood, said she does not accept that the election was tampered with. Finally, my African rights former friend (yes, former). He wanted to know why I have not requested a guest to my show to analyze the Dharamlall incident. I told him we had two such guests – Mr. Ralph Ramkarran from the opposition party, ANUG; and Ganesh Mahipaul from the PNC.

As the conversation continued, I brought up the 2020 election rigging. This is what he said to me: “Which election rigging? I don’t know about any election rigging.” Since the March 2020 election attempted fraud which lasted five months, I have heard the lament of so many people that I have shared decades of camaraderie with that I have “gone over.” Those guests like McDonad and Mahipaul have echoed those sentiments on the show itself.

You can deduce logically that the accusation is that I should still be with them. I should still be with them for me means that I should accept the denial of the right of my wife and daughter to vote and have their votes counted. To continue to be with them for me means that democracy means permanent one-party rule as when we lived under President Burnham. That is what we would have had if the Caribbean Court of Justice, the world and Guyanese freedom fighters did not stop the efforts to bring back one-party rule in this country.

The people who told me in 2020 and continue to tell me that I have gone over are people whose dangerous minds I did not know even though I spent decades with them in struggle for democratic values. I did not know them at all and I no longer want to know them. Last Friday on the Gildarie-Freddie Kissoon Show, there was a call-in segment, and a caller asked if while at Kaieteur News, I made mistakes about my writings.

This is how I answered him. I admit that I was naïve and that I did not see through the conspiracies of Mr. Glenn Lall. In response, I offered an apology to Guyana and the world. Looking back at my life in politics, the regrets are enormous. I thought we were all in struggle for a freer Guyana. I repeat here what I have written in black and white umpteen times in response to those who keep telling me I have gone over.

I voted in 2020 for the Amerindian Party of Lenox Shuman. I wanted small parties to be in government to act as deterrent to whichever party was in power. I voted for the Amerindian Party in keeping with my idyllist mind. I have gone over but to where? To my conscience and dreams. And yes, I support Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ally and Anil Nandlall. No apologies whatsoever!