WHEN things are put in black and white, they remain available forever. I campaigned for the Alliance For Change and I told David Patterson to his face one night that my activism was a factor in the AFC’s electoral success.

There is, in black and white, my feelings about the AFC in power from the day they got into power. Don’t take my word for it; just read my daily columns beginning from the day the AFC came into office in May 2015. I was relentless and vituperative about the power intoxication of the AFC and moral bankruptcy of the leadership of APNU. And guess who was a constant recipient of my carping – David Hinds.

One evening, while having plantain chips and fried fish at Nickey’s on Drury Lane with David, I hinted to him that the government will fall on a no-confidence motion. My wife baked a cake for Michael Carrington’s birthday and I gave it to him at Demico Roof Garden and I told him the government will fall through a no-confidence motion. I knew what was coming and I was glad it was coming. Even the Forbes Burnham regime was more patriotic and less pompous than the APNU+AFC entity.

During my daily critical columns on the APNU+AFC’s exercise of power, Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan, was the guest of the show, Plain Talk, hosted by Chris Ram. Ramjattan referred to my columns and told Ram that it looks like I wanted to bring back the PPP in government. So, no one on Planet Earth can accuse me of silence during the betrayal politics of the APNU+AFC regime.

One of the deep scars that grew on my mind in May 2015 was when several second-tier leaders of the AFC told me what happened in the boardroom of the AFC when its leaders met to select its ministers. There was consensus in the room to contact a complete stranger and ask her to become the Minister of the Environment. This woman was a friend of the AFC’s elitist leadership. Nigel Hughes was present in the room.

Nigel and I enjoyed a good friendship during the years of AFC’s governmental tenure. But in those years, we hardly saw each other. He is now the leader of the AFC and I am putting two questions to him because the questions relate to a territory, he was part of. The first is the choice of the lady.

Why were so many excellent second-tier leaders, qualified and hard-working overlooked for the ministerial post of Environment Minister? Why did Nigel concur? I hope if and when Nigel answers, he names the lady. Over the past 9 years, writing on this subject, people have asked me to identity her but I refused because I don’t want to have a libel writ.

It is for the people who chose her to do the politically obligatory thing and name her. David Patterson in an interview on the Freddie Kissoon Show conditioned his appearance on me not bringing up the subject of the lady and the proposal to her of the Minister of the Environment portfolio. Up to this day, I still cannot figure out why David Patterson did not want to discuss that issue.

The second question relates to the amendment to the marijuana law that Nigel himself drafted. His Bill removed the draconian penalties for small amounts of possession and the shape of bail. The Bill was put on the Order Paper of the House to be read under the name of AFC, parliamentarian, Michael Carrington. The Bill never saw the light of day.

Because Nigel spent precious time on the Bill and was the second- in-charge of the AFC at the time (chairman), I always wondered why he did not confront the AFC leadership and insist that the Bill go through the process. At the time, the PPP said it would allow its MPs a conscious vote, meaning they can vote without party direction. The Bill would have passed either way.

Nigel is now leader of the AFC; he must know that there will be “millions” of questions that will be put to him on the AFC’s tenure in government.

I am putting two simple questions to him and my reason is not a political or personal one. I am always driven by the need to record history. What Nigel has to say on these situations when the APNU+AFC were in power will be recorded in the history book.

Only David Patterson has given me a reason why the lady was offered the ministerial position. My research showed that he did not tell me the truth. I expect Nigel to be more forthcoming.

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.