An incredible moment last year that pushed Guyana further into destruction

Jan 15, 2010 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

I implore every reader of this particular column to ask themselves a question that will follow a description of an incident last year. This episode revolved around, not the Minister of Sports, not the Minister of Labour, not the Minister of Human Services but the Cabinet member responsible for the legal infrastructure of the Republic. This is the Minister that presides over the legal edifice of the Government of Guyana. I refer you to the Attorney-General and the Minister of Legal Affairs.
This gentleman stepped down from the Court of Appeal where he presided over the dispensation of justice to hold once more that particular portfolio in the Government. This gentleman called a press conference, the contents of which the media houses disseminated all over Guyana. Here is what the Minister of Justice told the reporters. He recalled for them that when he read and heard in the media that a Minister of the Government was involved in extra-judicial (read that to mean illegal) contacts involving the Roger Khan saga, he thought that the media was referring to him and not Ramsammy because Ramsammy is not such a person but he, Ramson is the kind of personality that is open to such conduct.
Using any kind of semantic analysis, even stretching grammar to incredible lengths, this man was telling the nation that he was given to entanglement in arenas that go beyond legal boundaries. There can, and I repeat, there can be no other interpretation, no matter how many philosophical concepts from Foucault and Derrida, Ravi Dev invokes to save this gentleman.
Let us now break it down for school children who may not understand these paragraphs.
The neighbourhood elders meet at the community centre where they discuss stealing of car parts by the local priest and they lamented what was going on. The headmaster of the local school heard about the fracas and turned up at the meeting asking if he was the one the locals are evaluating. When told it wasn’t him, he yelled out; “Well when I heard what was being thrown around about illegal activities in the neighbourhood about involvement in car part pilfering, I thought it was me being referred to because I like to do those things.”
Now here is my question to you. Were you the Prime Minister or President of a country and your Legal Affairs Minister broadcasted to the nation that he is the type to venture out beyond what is legally accepted in your country and engage in activities that are against the laws of your country because his personality is composed of those strands, would you retain him as the fountainhead of the legal ramparts of your country? If your answer is no, then what does that tell you of his superiors that showed confidence in him and have offered him collegial silicone? That exclamation was not the only self-destructive performance of that Minister in question at his press conference last year, though it outweighed the other egregious mistake he made minutes after.
He told the journalistic gathering that everybody knows Guyanese would give a leg and an arm to get a visa to go to the United States. This was an insult to this country’s citizens, never before announced like this even in colonial times. There are thousands, I repeat, thousands of Guyanese citizens that would not sell their souls and bodies to get an American visa. They are all around us. We meet such nationalistic citizens, everyday in our lives in this land. However, I am not concerned with this second descent of the Minister. That is a problem for the US Embassy in Guyana. My disgust is with the first assault on Guyana’s dignity. Last year when he announced what his personality and character was made of I did an entire column on it and referred to it in another article. For me, it remained one of the most obnoxious moments in the exercise of power in an elected dictatorship called Guyana.
Let me conclude with what has become my traditional comparison. Let me repeat my feeling that was carried in one of my pieces just before 2009 died. I believe using scientific methodologies that the PPP Government since 2003 is the worst government the English-speaking Caribbean has seen. Guyanese were right to rebel against the Burnham regime but the one we live with now is far worse. If Randy Persaud, Ravi Dev and Prem Misir are reading this then please tell me which Minister once told Burnham that he didn’t mind doing criminal things and Burnham laughed, hugged him, and life went on happily after among them?

Latest News

An incredible moment last year that pushed Guyana further into destruction

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show | November, 20th, 2024

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Rutherford gets big payday from Gujarat Titans at IPL 2025 Mega...

Roach and Seales star as West Indies close in on...

Delroy Tyrrell continues to excel at Oneonta...

Ramdass Royals Crowned Champions of the Inaugural...

KFC Guyana distance self from delayed payment of...

Ravens and Royals ready for epic Elite 16 final...

Features/Columnists

Soldier remanded for stabbing and chopping Fiancé

Rising Gun Crimes in the Caribbean: Urgent Action required by all

The ends are what matter, according to Dr. Jagdeo

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]

An incredible moment last year that pushed Guyana further into destruction

Share this:

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show | November, 20th, 2024

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Features/Columnists

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]