I HAVE to read and listen to what certain people say and write because it is my job. Of the ocean of anti-government critics, I find two of them funny, at times comical, at times foolish. That is Winston Jordan, former PNC Finance Minister and the infamous Vishu Bisram. What more hilarious moment do you want in Guyanese politics than the one in which Mr. Bisram is possessed by six master’s degrees in six different subjects and six doctorates in six different areas of study?
At the end of one of Jordan’s podcasts, he plays a reggae song named “Winston Jordan”. Some of the lyrics are in high, superb, and pyrotechnical praise of Jordan, referring to him as a great man. One verse says Jordan was the best Finance Minister.
One of my steadfast opinions about Guyanese politics is that Winston Jordan was the least studious Finance Minister and Basil Williams was the least effective Attorney-General. And this is in the entire history of Guyana. I like that reggae song, though the words turn you off. If someone can substitute the lyrics, I will buy that song right away. Unlike David Granger and Rupert Roopnaraine, I don’t listen to Bach and Chopin. I listen to reggae, Barry White, and dozens of artistes in a similar vein. What does Jordan listen to? Did he ever hear Barry Whyte’s magnum opus – “Love’s Theme?”
You read what these people write, and you listen to Jordan on social media, and you feel you should not reply to them because it is not worth it. I just listened to two podcasts by Jordan on Forbes Burnham, and they were funny. Since we are on the topic of Jordan, let’s rewind the tape before we come to Burnham. There is a 2019 issue that the Ethnic Relations Commission was supposed to have spoken to Jordan about based on a complaint by the PPP.
In June 2019, at a government outreach event in Bartica, as a reaction to the ruling by the Caribbean Court of Justice that the November 2018 no-confidence motion was validly passed by the House, Jordan, speaking on the podium, exclaimed, “War break!” What was the ERC’s finding? Did it ever speak to Jordan? And where was the war?
It never broke out. Here is my problem with people like Jordan and dozens of his political acolytes. They are on podcasts and social media almost daily, and the topic is inevitably African Guyanese and the government’s policies against them. But when they are done, the answers that African Guyanese want from them are never forthcoming.
I am yet to hear from Jordan why the war did not break out. What were the dynamics unleashed in Guyana after June 2019 that stopped the war from breaking out? If, based on those two frequently used words (war break), the PPP complained to the ERC, then shouldn’t Jordan at least explain why the war didn’t come.
In his incessant social media appearances, Jordan leaves out urgent answers that he has to offer to African Guyanese. I will deal with that in another column, including what he had to say about who voted for Azruddin Mohamed in the 2025 general elections and an ethnically based perception of Mohamed he made in that same podcast.
For now, let’s visit the imagination of Winston Jordan on Forbes Burnham. Jordan was ecstatic, emotional, and wild in his praise of Burnham. He described Burnham as the undisputable father of Guyana and the greatest builder. Space would not allow for reproducing his eulogistic outpouring on Burnham.
Factually, Burnham is not the father of the nation, and if you accept that, then it has to be one of, not the definitive one. Cheddi Jagan was equally one of the fathers of Guyana, out-distancing Burnham by unlimited miles. Burnham was no great man. Sadly, he was a failure, and none of the dozens of articles on him in academic journals and none of the books on him paints him as a great man who was the father of Guyana.
Burnham did build. That is true. You are foolish to deny that Burnham wasn’t a builder. But he was equally a destroyer. What Burnham built gave Guyana immense leverage, like the harbour bridge, NIS, the Turkeyen campus of UG, and Linden Highway, just to mention a few.
What he destroyed was not easily replaceable. Burnham destroyed the moral fabric of Guyana, the collective psyche of a nation, and the philosophical harmony of a multi-racial country. There is a big irony here. Desmond Hoyte was his anointed successor, but Hoyte erased his legacy. Jordan complained about Burnham’s critics erasing his legacy. Sorry, Winston! You are not bright. It was Hoyte who did the erasing.
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.
