IN a column two weeks ago in a conversation with the current leader of the AFC, David Patterson, I wrote that David told me that one of the regrets he has is that when he was in government, he did not reach out to me. I normally get a fair amount of emails and telephone calls because I publish my details all the time – fredkissoon@yahoo.com and my cell is 614-5927. My home number is 222- 1616.
I’ve gotten a number of emails about David since that column. I was asked if I believe David. Some people felt I should have called him a liar since they say I am a person who speaks his mind. No, I do not believe David. I think he just told me that because he wanted me to think about him in a certain way.
I think he lied to me just as Khemraj Ramjattan did. The incident with Khemraj is perhaps one of the most pyrotechnical manifestations of a person lying to me in my long years as a political activist. I told Khemraj we are very personal friends, and I don’t even get a hello from him since he got into power.
He apologised and said that the preoccupation with work caused him to forget about me. Then I let him have it by telling him I don’t believe him. Every Minister of Government, every Prime Minister or President the past 100 years has a routine every morning that they never depart from.
The first thing they do in the morning before brushing their teeth is to read the newspapers about who said what about them and their government. When Khemraj got into power, I was the daily columnist with the then largest selling daily newspaper, Kaieteur News. Khemraj saw my face every day when he was a minister of government. He lied, and he did so barefacedly.
Let’s contrast the essence of Irfaan Ali with other powerful people in government that I met. Before the 2020 election, I had not seen or spoken to Irfaan Ali in a long time, even though we had a very good relationship even after he became a minister of government. During the five months of election rigging, I did a daily Kaieteur News column and a radio programme with journalist Leonard Gildarie. In those five months, I did not speak to Dr. Ali. In those daily columns during the five-month horror show, I mentioned in several articles that in the election I voted for Lenox Shuman.
One day in August, I received a phone call from President Ali asking me to visit him at State House. I was smothered with curiosity. What did he want to see me about? President Ali was dressed casually and was very friendly. I only met one Guyanese president in my life and that was Cheddi Jagan. It was at State House, too.
President Ali has a rare touch about him. He sat on a sofa opposite me and he oozed an unusual friendliness that is not easily describable. I offered my service to Jagan for the one year I was on UG sabbatical, and my choice was to do anti-corruption work at Customs and Excise.
Jagan never smiled during our entire chat. It lasted longer than the one I had with Dr. Ali. Jagan talked about his government, its hurdles, and what plans he had. The ambience was the opposite with Dr. Ali. The current Guyanese President has a personality that is not easy to do a semantic portrait of, and maybe the best person to do so would be the poet.
Age is the best methodology for comprehending the substance or persona of Mohamed Irfaan Ali. When you are young and you meet your country’s president, you cannot describe the aura you see because of inexperience. When you are much older and you meet someone like Dr. Ali, you are more intellectually equipped to understand the essential person.
President Ali told me that he saw me as a patriot, and thanked me for the exposing work I did during those five months of election rigging. Then came the moment that floored me. He asked me in what ways would I like to serve my country. I was momentarily stunned. Here was the President of Guyana offering me a job. I never imagined it would happen in my life. No president before Dr. Ali ever reached out to me.
You know what they say about first impressions. My first impression of Mohamed Irfan Ali told me that he was a different human species. I took to him immediately. I sensed there and then that Guyana had found a leader never seen before.
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.
