GUYANA is a strange place with a group of people who are different and rare. Some would even venture to say Guyana is a place that breeds a different quality of politicians when one considers the bold concepts of truthfulness, completeness, integrity, morality, accountability, transparency, and decency.

It is the only country in the world where a former leader could come out of the woodwork, bating, to tell the person’s version of certain historical occurrences through a book, and at a price.
Alas when the event is finished, the cameras are down, and the lights go down, the person slithers away and goes back into the shadows to watch their stories and experiences make the rounds in certain circles. They know that their version might be crystallised and metamorphosised into ‘truth’, changing narratives and realities.

Sadly, those who do not challenge these stories and experiences told by these so-called elders and politicians are doing a disservice to the next generation of youths who are growing up in modern Guyana. Those who do not seek to set the record straight about Guyana’s history are part of the problem and could never be part of a solution.

Moses Nagamootoo lied, again, in his most recent book, ‘Dear Land of Guyana’ about the truth surrounding the 2020 elections turmoil and delay. He has become a true snake oil salesman, telling tales and stories about his alleged experience leaving the prime minister’s official residence and office, politics in Guyana from the period 2011 to 2020, and certain historical developments in his earlier political years.

For the record, Nagamootoo did not tell the whole and complete story. Several prominent politicians, historians, columnists, and Guyanese who have read his book know too well that his book was little on truth and facts.

It was like reading the story of a Guyanese politician who was acting in a play called ‘Life’ and had to overcome many jaw-dropping and titillating challenges to be at the top. Let’s be clear, Nagamootoo lived a very privileged life and made the most out of every stage even though his family was considered working class. Most Guyanese back then endured some of the worst conditions, especially those who lived in rural Guyana, but one does not hear their stories or see them seeking attention.

Unfortunately, the former one-time prime minister played with the emotional consciousness of all who read his book, depicting under what circumstances he parted ways with state vehicles and premises.

While his account must be verified for accuracy, former Prime Minister, Samuel Hinds, would soon haul him over the coals, remembering his experience at the hands of the APNU+AFC politicians at that time.

He wrote in a missive to the media, “Changeover arrangements between the Hinds and Nagamootoo families were abruptly ended; a last walk-through was cancelled; the PM’s car was demanded but soon demoted to the backup position whilst I caught a minibus to travel to our city centre with my close man.”

And that is not all. Hinds spoke indirectly about the APNU+AFC or Nagamootoo’s attitude back then about the themes that underlie various chapters in his book.

Hinds waded into the book saying that Nagamootoo would know that we have a lot to clear from our chests. He asserted, much like this column, that “We need narratives of whole truths for national reconciliation. It needs no saying that I keep hoping for a better contribution to national cohesion from Moses.”

One truth that Nagamootoo included in his work reads, “The coalition cannot absolve itself from blame for its removal from office. The complex but toxic mix of inter-party bickering, dependence on ethnic support, entrenchment of the impulse to rig elections, misuse of office to foist personality politics and party paramountcy, cannot be underestimated.”

But the book suddenly goes mute, robbing the public that spent their hard-earned cash on details of these tales. These were the real things one would have thought he would have spent his words and pages describing and recalling. Instead, the book is surface-level and an insult to Guyanese who lived through the periods mentioned in the book and who knew for a fact that they, the APNU+AFC party, and Nagamootoo used politics of race, racism, and party paramountcy when making certain critical decisions in Guyana, and with the elections of 2020.

How can this man who had had 50 years in Guyanese politics not admit that he was part and parcel of the process to rig elections? We want to hear the stories of a former prime minister standing up within the APNU+AFC grouping for Guyanese and saying ‘We have lost the election fairly and squarely’. Tell Guyana that story or tell us the story of that not occurring or you betraying your political upbringing and Jagan’s legacy. Don’t tell us a different story or another tale that seeks to set you in some great light.

Where did you go over the past three years? What’s happened to the fighting spirit? Or are you a real snake or neemakaram as they say? Tell us why the coalition failed and say without fear of successful contradiction, who failed? Why did your party not accomplish the constitutional reform mandate and national unity? Whatever happened to shared governance under the coalition?
Nagamootoo’s book only serves provocateur of thought. It is neither factual nor historical as it relates to Guyana. It offers Nagamootoo’s perspective on the events which took place, not a true perspective. It misrepresents the truth and presents a crookish and twisted narrative with a cock-eye lens. It is one-sided and very biased because it lacks the will of a truth, earth-shattering and realistic auto-biography.

Finally, Nagamootoo must know that he has missed the mark with this book. There are still many questions than answers that abound, even this year. The book says nothing about nothing but a journey down the memory lane of his life as he saw it or thought he saw it. But next time one can only hope, that the senior politician releases a book entitled, ‘My Turn – A Book of Facts, betrayal and Thirst”.

If Nagamootoo still refuses, at this senior and spent age, to do the honourable thing and set the record straight about the Jagans, the 2020 elections and things that occurred during his political career, then the public will turn from him slowly, and he will always be remembered as ‘has been’ and ‘coulda been.’