I WAS walking my dog on the seawall last Thursday, as I do every evening, when I saw this person coming in my direction. He looked like someone I knew before he was born. As we came closer to each other, I saw it was Gerhard Ramsaroop, who’d left Guyana seven years ago, and in so doing, the Alliance For Change (AFC) lost one of its finest souls. But Gerhard was the first victim of the power intoxication that overcame the AFC.
Gerhard’s father, Boyo Ramsaroop, rescued me from a meaningless life on D’Urban Street, Wortmanville. I got to know Boyo during my youthful days in the PPP. He formed an organisation named Guyana-GDR Friendship Society, because he had studied in the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) and brought back a German wife.

The Society was housed, in Boyo’s name, on Delph Street, Campbellville, and it was at Boyo’s that I got a cooked meal each day. It was through the friendship society that I became more embroiled in politics, and got to know PPP leaders up-close and personal. I met former Communications Minister EMG Wilson, and he had an undue influence on me.
He was nicknamed ‘Coco’ because he christened a locally-made ferry using coconut water rather than champagne. We also called him ‘Willo’. He remains one of the undoubtedly great PPP leaders, and one of the politicians in this country whose integrity is not easily matched.

I knew when Gerhard he was born, and, like his father, he took to politics. He ended up as my student at UG, where he was a class favourite. Gerhard was one of the foundation members of the AFC, and since I knew him as a baby, we became closer as he became a young man, and we campaigned together. I knew about the Mephistophelean monstrosity in Guyanese politics, and I saw it with Gerhard in the AFC. I knew he would not have last long in the AFC’s leadership.

Gerhard became as popular as any of the big names in the AFC. There wasn’t anyone at the top of the AFC’s pyramid that could dent his popularity, especially among the country folks. Maybe it had to do with his white complexion, and from all my knowledge of Guyana’s sociology, I think this was one of the factors of Gerhard’s success.

The saga of whiteness or clear complexion in West Indian societies is easy reading for anyone interested in class and colour in West Indian societies (for a good book on this subject, see David Lowenthal and Lambros Comitas, “Consequences of Class and Colour: West Indian Perspectives”, Anchor Books, New York, 1973).

In a published interview with a foundation member of the AFC, Rajendra Bissesar. He told me no high-profile Indian could have maintained a presence in the leadership of the AFC because of the jealousy of Khemraj Ramjattan. For the interview with Bissesar, see my column of Saturday, August 26, 2021, titled, “Recording historical notes for posterity”, in the Kaieteur News.

It was not only Ramjattan who saw Gerhard as a threat; it was the cream of the leadership itself. This has always been a trait in Guyanese politics. I think Rupert Roopnaraine, Moses Bhagwan and Paul Tennassee were jealous of Cheddi Jagan because they believed they were more politically intellectualised than Jagan. In the PNC, people like John Carter, Dr. Rawle Farley and Llewellyn John were jealous of Forbes Burnham.
Huge outputs of jealousy greeted Robert Corbin when he became head of the PNC. Aubrey Norton and Vincent Alexander simply refused to be subordinate figures to Corbin in the PNC leadership. In the end, constant guerrilla warfare in the PNC weakened Corbin’s leadership.

Most people in Guyana and the AFC believed that Gerhard would have been an automatic choice for parliamentarians in 2011 and become the shadow minister of agriculture, since he grew up in agriculture, and ran an agricultural farm in flowers. What happened to Gerhard in 2011 is what happened to Gomattie Singh in 2006. She was promised a seat in 2006, only to find out that a lady friend of one of the male bigwigs was given it. The identical situation confronted Gerhard in 2011.

He left Guyana for Germany shortly after, and it was a huge loss to both Guyanese politics and the future of the AFC. Gerhard told me he came in on Tuesday last, and would be here until the 18th. I would advise him to seek an audience with Dr. Irfaan Ali. I think Gerhard would find President Ali an accommodating person. Gerhard should spend some time serving his country. I hope he can reach an agreement with President Ali.

DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Guyana National Newspapers Limited.