THE only good thing that has happened to me in my life is Janet Mohamed whom I married in 1979. My life has been a jinxed since I was born 74 years ago. I have been bad-lucked since 74 years ago. The only moment of sunshine is Janet. Janet is a very good and nice human being. So, I will do anything for her.
So, she pestered me yesterday (Sunday) that I must speak to Denis Chabrol. She told me the man called the landline (my landlines are 222-1615 and 222-1616) and my cell five times. I didn’t want to speak to Chabrol because I don’t like him. But my wife insisted it is courtesy to return his call. I did.
I told him I don’t want to speak to him now or ever and he can publicly quote me. Mr. Chabrol wanted a comment from me on the conflict between the government and Mr. Nazar (Shell) Mohamed. Read on and you will see the hypocrite that this man is. I exclaimed that I was not speaking to him because twice he refused a comment from me, and I am the only columnist in Guyana’s history that has done analyses for every major newspaper as a columnist. I am the longest serving columnist in the CARICOM region.

His response was that I am the analyst so his questions to the analyst are logically put. I told him that journalists and media houses make the news and therefore questions must be answered by journalists and media houses when they make the news. The New York Times and CNN made the news over their horribly unprofessional and biased reporting during the Israeli genocidal violence against the Palestinians. The Times and CNN refused to offer comments put to them by other media houses, particularly The Intercept.
Mr. Chabrol made the news when the 2023 general elections of the Guyana Press Association (GPA) were under intense scrutiny for illegal and improper manoeuvrings.

In the reporting on the news by several media houses, it came out that Mr. Chabrol was tabling constitutional changes to the GPA. I met Mr. Chabrol at the launch of Dr. Mark Kirton’s book. I asked him for a comment on his constitutional proposals.
He was extremely curt. He said in a no-nonsense tone, “No comment.” I told him I would quote him. He then became upset and cautioned me saying: “You are only allowed to publish only what I just told you.” Of course he was right. Mr. Chabrol yesterday told me I was the analyst, so it is proper to put the question to me. But when did Chabrol discover I was an analyst?

I was never sought out by Chabrol for any comment on anything in the past seven years and in those seven years I was doing a daily column including a column every day during the five months of the attempted rigging of the 2020 General and Regional Elections. Yesterday (Sunday) Chabrol woke up and shouted, “Eureka, Eureka!” Chabrol discovered that Guyana has a political analyst named Frederick Kissoon.

But Chabrol still thinks I have value in Guyana. He left his friend, GHK Lall, who has invested in Demerara Waves, to seek the views of the Chronicle’s daily columnist. Chabrol actually wanted to publish something from the Chronicle. Obviously, it meant his readers would have read me. Out of moral compulsion, I have to thank Mr. Chabrol for acknowledging that people read me.

Despite that acknowledgement, I do not want Chabrol and the editor-in-chief of the Stabroek News, Anand Persaud to speak to me. In my advanced years, I have no time for both men who I think are politically biased and hypocritical. Mr. Persaud sent me an email requesting an answer if I ever stole books from the national library.

I felt as a public intellectual and a media operative, I am under journalistic obligation to answer. I did. I explained to him that I was 17 years of age when I stole books from the library. Mr. Rex Mc Kay was in his 20s when he stole a box of bicycle tubes while working as a sales attendant at Bookers Store. He was convicted in a court of law, and it was published in the Guyana Graphic in 1955. McKay subsequently became the richest bicycle thief in human history when he became the richest lawyer in Guyana.

As for me, I stole books to educate myself. And I am still the poorest book thief in history. In 2023, Mr. Persaud flatly refused to answer two questions from me on different occasions. One – why he refused to publish Dr. Randy Persaud’s letters and two – who are the board members of Stabroek News. Guyana is full of hypocrites.

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.