THIS newspaper has reported on the AFC’s delegation that went to New York to engage the Guyanese diaspora. The Chronicle reported the AFC’s response to a member of the audience was that the AFC lost power in 2020 because of one man. The exact words used went like this: “One of our (AFC) candidates was the reason why the coalition came out of government.”
The person was not named. This is a gross distortion of political reality. There was no one person that was responsible for the untergang (German word for downfall; I like it, after seeing the movie about Hitler with that name) of the AFC. The leadership of the AFC consisted of the same mentality expressed in each individual leader.
It was a betrayal of the people of Guyana that has no parallel in contemporary Guyanese history except for Forbes Burnham accepting power in exchange for engaging the Venezuelan Government on the border issue that was signed and sealed.
To say one of the AFC’s big names was the reason for the AFC’s untergang is an attempt to excuse the power-drunkenness and middle-class snobbery of the collective leadership of the AFC, and to obfuscate the willingness from 2015 to 2020 to subordinate itself to the PNC in order to drink at the fountain of power.
From the time the election results were made known, the middle-class incestuous shenanigans began. Here I will repeat maybe for the sixth what I have written in my columns for both the Kaieteur News and the Guyana Chronicle. The AFC met in its boardroom at its head office to select its ministers.
The hierarchy of the AFC was present and that hierarchy decided on a woman to be made Minister of the Environment. The woman had absolutely no connection with the AFC but was the personal friend of three elitist Mulatto/Creole leaders of the AFC.
In a telephonic discourse with the woman, she declined the post citing the ministerial salary that would be below that of her internationally paid salary. Within a week of this refusal, the ANPU+AFC decided to raise ministerial pay. That offer to the lady was made in front of second-tier leaders who worked tirelessly to bring the AFC to power.
So who is this person that brought about the AFC’s untergang? It could not have been Raphael Trotman. He said in his book that after victory, he was not offered a Cabinet post and that such a position was facilitated by President Granger himself. It could not be Moses Nagamootoo.
As Prime Minister, Nagamootoo acquired four portfolios as against 18 for Joe Harmon as gazetted in July 2015. Nagamootoo also stated in his autobiography that because he was a newcomer to the AFC, he did not want to encroach on the AFC’s decision-making machinery.
I met Moses’ wife at Mattai’s supermarket yesterday (Tuesday) and I told her if she thinks it was Moses that was being referred to. When I looked at her expression, I had the answer right there. It couldn’t have been her husband
It couldn’t have been Nigel Hughes because he was not a candidate in the 2020 election and held no Cabinet position, and resigned as chairman of the AFC in 2017. It could not have been Cathy Hughes because it is Nigel Hughes that is pointing to this particular individual so why would he describe his wife as the person that devastated the AFC while she was a minister?
It could not have been Alston Stewart who had huge power in the AFC’s hierarchy as a consultant, but was not in the government and was not a legal member of the AFC’s executive.
It could not have been Dominic Gaskin because while in power Gaskin never threw his weight around and simply did not have the clout in the AFC leadership to shape things. It could not have been Noel Holder because according to Trotman, the AFC overlooked Holder for Cabinet inclusion and he owed his ministerial status to President Granger who offered him the Agriculture Ministry.
This leaves David Patterson and Khemraj Ramjattan. Let’s once more quote Nigel Hughes: “One of our (AFC) candidates was the reason why the coalition came out of government.” So if it is Patterson or Ramjattan, what did they do to so damage the biology of the AFC between 2015 and 2020?
I asked two persons who operated in the war-room or the engine room or the nerve centre of the AFC how would they respond. Leonard Craig said he does not want to speculate as to a name but he thinks Nigel’s statement is highly misleading. Michael Carrington surprised me by saying he does not want to offer a comment.
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.