I BEGAN my Sunday column with the following words. I quote: “One of the most psychologically malignant things I see in this country is how people who are the problem in Guyana and that problem eats away at the fabric of society, turn around and lift themselves so high as (in Barry Manilow’s famous song) when the stallion meets the sun and point to others as the problem.”

The very next day, that is, Monday, Vincent Alexander proved me correct in a weird, eerie, but sickening way. I quote from Alexander’s letter that next day, which carried the title, “Certain trends are entrenching the ethno-political divide in Guyana.” I am asking every Guyanese if they believe that someone like Vincent Alexander could write that knowing who Vincent Alexander is.

And who is Vincent Alexander? A Guyanese whose writings, emanations, articulations, arguments, pronouncements, and propaganda have contributed to the very widening ethnic and political distrust, suspicion, and animosity that we see in Guyana. And how long has Alexander been at it? More than 50 years when he started out as the chairman of the youth arm of the People’s National Congress.

Is there a piece of evidence that we can cite to show that Alexander is still at it? The evidence is his very letter of Monday, May 5, in which he accuses others of contributing to racial and ethnic polarisation. Ironically his letter is a continuation of his racially inspired themes. I offer graphic evidence by quoting from that very letter.

Now read this and tell me if Alexander’s hypocrisy has any limit: “I have discerned a certain trend, that is attributable to public influencers such as some media, some social media influencers, some public commentators, politicians and even civil society organisations, that is worrying and reflects and entrenches the ethno-political divide in Guyana. While there is glaring and undeniable evidence that the Heroes Highway does not traverse the path of the demolished homes, commercial and farm steads in Mocha-Arcadia, and similarly that Adriana’s body was not in the pool immediately, and for some time after her disappearance, there are those who continue to peddle the opposite narrative. This is the trend of disinformation to which I am referring.”
There is no evidence whatsoever by any foreign or local police or forensic authority that Adriana Younge’s body was ever out of the pool. Where is Alexander’s evidence? The Mocha-Arcadia squatters accepted compensation and moved on with their lives. Those who refused to leave lost their case in front of the Chief Justice.

Both situations Alexander used were delicate, sensitive matters that if not handled properly could contribute to the racial divide. I assert without even an ounce of hesitation, Alexander’s citing of these two fictions has made an input in widening what he accuses others of doing. Let’s move on to Lincoln Lewis’ letter published on Thursday and titled, “We called on the government to guarantee free, fair, and credible elections.”

Can any human living in Guyana believe that Lincoln Lewis could write that after Lewis’ open rejection of the legal results of the 2020 elections? Here is what Lewis wrote on July 2020 when all the respected international organisations and all the governments of the world without exception had pronounced that the March 2020 election in Guyana was free, fair, and credible and that the incumbent APNU+AFC must respect the results.

Here is Lewis in his own words: “I call on President David Granger not to allow history to record him as it did Nero. You have the power vested in your office to correct this public hijacking of Guyana’s elections, this confounded brazen highway robbery, this piracy, this buccaneering politics unleashed on Guyana. …
This is no longer only about electoral victory. It is about our youth, our future. It is a shame for GECOM to attempt to declare any election … If GECOM cannot declare election on credible votes or declarations never challenged or deemed invalid in a court of law, then Mr. President, it behooves you to cancel these elections. You have the power; you have the right to so do. Mr. President, for the good of Guyana, her laws, and people, cancel these elections.”

So, what do you make of Alexander and Lewis? The answer is simple. They know what they are doing. They know they want people to read and listen to them in the hope they can play on those people’s minds. But they will not succeed if we expose them and in exposing them, we educate Guyanese in and out of the land. That is the sacred duty of those who need to keep exposing people like Alexander and Lewis.
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.