TODAY is October 5. In 1992, on this day, Guyana tasted the sweetness of a free election that we had never had since 1964. If I were to write my memoir, a chapter would have to be on where I was on October 5, 1992, and the nearness of losing my life outside the GECOM head office on Croal Street.
Once October 5 comes around, Father Andre Morrison flies right into my mind; a kind man who chaperoned me in journalism and has gone down in Guyanese history as an icon. I saw how brave Father Morrison was on that fateful morning when he sought to protect me from a crazy mob. Had it caught up with me, I would have been seriously injured. As I ran from them, I thought of my baby daughter. She was just three years old.
The psyche, like the soul, is an esoteric compartment outside of the physical material of the human. The psyche is exceedingly complex and has inexplicable dimensions that the mind does not have. The mind is endlessly mysterious, though Sigmund Freud has made sense of it. But just think of how labyrinthine the psyche is because it is far more formidable a metaphysical entity than the mind.
For someone who sat right inside the core of the fruit of free, unhindered voting on October 5, 1992, it may be impossible to comprehend the effect of five months of election rigging in 2020 had on that person’s psyche. Guyana was a pariah in the world prior to 1992 because its last legally conducted voting was 1964.
From 1968, it was struggle of life and death to get the return of the right to vote. From 1968, lives were lost, bodies were broken, spirits were killed, hopes had vanished, but courage persisted. It was a type of valour that you read about in science-fiction books. I was there from 1968 to see how those lives were lost and how those bodies were broken.
Then in 1992, my life was almost lost. Father Morison’s life was almost lost. While we survived, so many from 1968 didn’t make it. They got killed and Father Bernard Darke’s name stands out graphically on the list. Can you understand the psyche of a human who rode on the dream of voting for a party of your choice, then it came on October 5?
I now quote from Father Morrison’s book, “Justice: The Struggle For Democracy in Guyana, 1952-1992.” Part 4 of the book is titled, “The Hoyte Years.” Chapters 12 and 13 of that section is on the October 5, 1992 elections. Chapter 12 is titled: “Elections that nearly flopped.” Father Morrison wrote on page 404: “Reportedly, on election night, Jagan agreed with Hoyte not to challenge any of the results in court, with Hoyte agreeing for his part, agreeing to concede victory and call on his supporters to remain calm and accept defeat.”
Incumbent President and PNC leader at the time, Desmond Hoyte, conceded defeat on the night of October 5 and after 24 years of the absence of democratic elections in Guyana, the Guyanese people had their votes counted. But there is more the young population needs to know about October 5, 1992, and when they do, then they will try to understand the shape of the collective psyche of those who watched the 2020 election being rigged.
I quote Father Morrison again: “The Riot Squad arrived at 4.00 PM and the crowd marched towards the PPP headquarters and the shopping centres. Then followed the rioting and looting mainly in Regent, Robb and Camp Streets. Worse seemed to have been planned, for the day after elections, it was learnt that fifty gallons of fuel had been confiscated by the police in Regent Street.”
Today there is a man in Guyana at age 90. Hardly anyone in Guyana knows him. But he saved Guyana in 1992. His name is Rudy Collins. He was the chairman of GECOM. As the mobs attacked GECOM where he was stationed, as calls were made from patriotic Guyanese to suspend the voting to avoid national destruction through widespread violence, Rudy Collins stayed in his office and told everyone present and everyone who rang him that he is staying and will conclude the elections.
I met Rudy a few months ago at Massy Supermarket next to where I live. I told him he is a Guyanese hero and that he must come on the Freddie KIssoon Show, so we can tell the nation about his historic role. He said ill health is plaguing him. Remember the name! Remember the name! Remember the name! It is Rudy Collins, who on this day in 1992 saved Guyana.
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.
