What is the truth with respect to ghostwriters in Guyana?

Nov 12, 2009 Letters

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Dear Editor,
I had to read the article over and over in the Kaieteur News, captioned “Irate President lashes out at Kaieteur News” of November 6, 2009, since I could not believe what I was reading.
We can choose to exhibit “crab dog attitude” in our personal life but we must never relinquish that duty to treat our office with the utmost of respect.
Failure to respect one’s station can condemn the nation to a precedence of perpetual disrespect that can be the stimulus for permanent under-development.
Our people do not deserve permanent under-development since our foreparents invested too much in Guyana.
The newspapers stated that the President waded into writers of Kaieteur News saying, “And then you have ghost writers who can malign people…but they don’t have the courage…I would say something else… to put their names.” Buddha stated that art of right speaking entails speaking the truth. What is the truth with respect to ghostwriters in Guyana?
Almost all, if not all politicians both in Government and in the Opposition have a ghost name which they use to let off steam, and to plant political points that are not political acceptable to the wider society. The Press and Publication Office within the Office of the President has professionalised the art of ghost writing usually under anglicised names like Elizabeth Daly, Todd Morgan etc, whom are commissioned to regurgitate on a daily basis ghost letters after ghost letters.
Therefore, the President has neither the moral authority nor the ethical mandate to condemn the practice of ghost writing. I do not like the idea of ghost writing, but it is a style of public life acceptable and practiced by most, if not all public personality in Guyana.
Thus, condemnation of ghost writing by the President is like the pot calling the kettle black. If a normal Guyanese made such a statement, he can easily be accused of gross hypocrisy. As Bob Marley stated, “who the cap fit, let them wear it.”
The Kaieteur News quoted His Excellency as saying, “You have some really crazy people there too…I don’t want to mention who…but you know moralizing and stealing all the time…a convicted thief…writing everyday for your paper…a convicted thief and a self-confessed man kisser and you don’t see anything wrong…everyday.” Was the President mis-quoted? Is this the same tongue that call for a cohesive society, is this the same tongue that must demonstrate leadership and stay away from idle chatter, is this the same tongue that has to stay away from abusive speech to mould a nation?
If these statements are true, it is certainly “How not to be Presidential 101”. Even Kaiso King, Malcolm Corrica, who was a PNC Minister, was better than this. Shame, shame! Can I ask Kaieteur News to review their transcript to ensure that these statements were accurate because I still cannot believe these things were said?
Kaieteur News then stated that the President then accused Kaieteur News of having links to a $300 million fraud that was uncovered by the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA). The papers quoted him as saying that, “I hope that you will investigate the GRA matter further for a particular reason, which hopefully will be made available soon, because it has links to the Kaieteur News. There massive confusion here namely:
1. Has the state lost the competence to conduct fraudulent investigations using standard operating procedures?
2. The burden of investigation at GRA must and should lie with the police, the Internal Audit Department of the GRA and the Office of the Auditor General not Kaieteur News?
3. How can Citizen No.1 arrive at a conclusion before the investigative arm of the state completed their investigation? Has Guyana been reduced to voodoo decision making whereby an accusation is made and a conclusion is arrived at by certain public functionaries instantaneously without providing due process its rightful role?
4. Can any one remember the Guyflag/GRA case? What has come of it? NADA! Can anyone remember the many sound bites that were made at that time by Citizen No.1? It is all about “pampazetting” and “sand dancing” with no substance; just wind paddy.
5. These actions have left the credibility of Guyana shattered. There is no attempt at concrete public policy formulation, just guesswork day in and day out. How can we run a state in this manner? How can we mould a nation with this level of intellectual bankruptcy and mediocrity?
If the standards that many of us are fighting to restore in Guyana are being blown to “smithereens” on a daily basis by none other that Citizen No.1 and the citizens of Guyana have no outrage at these constant behavioural mal-functionalities, then there is no hope for Guyana over the next two years. I can do much better things with my time during this remaining two years of intellectual bankruptcy and policy malaise, so I will sparingly use my time to write to the press going forward.
There are many thing I want to write about especially, the alleged abuse of that child by two alleged professional maimers but I will reserve my comments since how can I wade into these two police officers, when there boss is no better. How can I wade into these police officers when their boss failed to permanently demonstrate any modicum of leadership? Guyana has reached a stage where the tail is leading the donkey. I await the next leader to contribute to that process of moulding a nation since there is no hope for the next two years. This is not what Cheddi Jagan, Komal Chand, Nanda Gopaul, Sam Hinds and all the other stalwarts of the restoration of democracy process fought for, certainly not.
Sasenarine Singh

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