I never had an acquaintance much less a close friendship with Bharrat Jagdeo

Nov 17, 2010 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

Mr. Lionel Peters, a former Central Committee member of the PPP has been in the news recently for his breathtaking revelations of the shocking dictatorship Cheddi and Mrs. Jagan ran inside the PPP for decades. No doubt he has enriched the tapestry of history with his details.
I acknowledge the kind words Mr. Peters wrote of me in his letter in the Monday edition of this paper but he needs to offer an immediate retraction of a statement he made about me in relation to Mr. Jagdeo. I would like Mr. Peters to know that I am offended because what he had to say of me is completely and shockingly fictional. It is not true and I swear on the graves of my parents that I loved so much that it is not true.
Mr. Peters has me as sharing a close friendship in the early days of the PPP rule with Mr. Jagdeo. If Mr. Peters is to maintain his credibility as a recorder of Guyanese history he ought to do the obligatory act and retract what he wrote of me. I was never an acquaintance of Jagdeo much less shared a close friendship with him.
Even if we had struck up a familiarity it would not have lasted. Ontologically speaking, there is absolutely nothing these two human beings have in common.
I am by nature an existentialist with a touch of idealism, bohemianism, anarchism but most of all I am a human being that loves being part of the world of the ordinary folk to whom I dedicate my life to working for their social elevation. I believe in intense obligation to others, hence my 32-year-old marriage.
I came from dirt poverty in Wortmanville, Georgetown, and I will never forget my roots and turn my back on my past. From now until I die I will see no fascination in the accumulation of vast wealth and live a life based on the use of such wealth. It is not in my chemistry.
Philosophically, Mr. Jagdeo is the opposite of me. I cannot see how we could have struck up even a convenient continuation. I have never shared a closeness with people whose philosophical essence does not approximate to mine. Mr. Jagdeo is fascinated by the world of wealthy people.
I have always maintained my distance from such people because tension and confrontation would be inevitable. But I have no philosophical objection to people wanting to be rich.
I never got to know Mr. Jagdeo. Where did Lionel Peters get that close friendship thing from from? My first encounter with Mr. Jagdeo was a nasty, brutish and short one. It began and ended there. I met Mr. Jagdeo at the Castellani swimming pool when he was junior Finance Minister. I was the guest of my friend from teenager years, Malcolm Harripaul.
After the second night of seeing me there, Malcolm informed me that the then GTV manager, Sean Taylor, who was in charge of the pool, had indicated to him that Mr. Jagdeo does not want me to swim there. Mr. Jagdeo chose Taylor rather than Harripaul to convey his edict.
For some reason, Jagdeo has always been terrified of Harripaul when the latter worked at Customs and Excise and Jagdeo was his boss as Deputy Finance Minister.
Harripaul refused to accept Jagdeo’s demand and dragged me out of my home to swim with the intention of cussing down Jagdeo if he showed up.
I declined with the stern warning to Harripaul that he would be dismissed. I explained to Harripaul that I would demand my right to swim by asking for President Jagan’s permission.
I wrote Jagan and never heard from him. This was the second time I was evicted from a swimming pool, the first being Colgrain, under the PNC Government. Months after, Harripaul was fired. And months after that, he migrated.
In 1999, after he became President, Mr. Jagdeo and I had another bruising encounter over his refusal to allow me a change in my duty free car even though he kept telling me he approved of it. In that same year, Mr. Jagdeo ordered Moses Nagamootoo to terminate my six-month consultancy with Nagamootoo.
That is the history of my acquaintance with Bharrat Jagdeo. There was never ever a moment when we had an enjoyable conversation. There was never a moment when we had a pleasant exchange of views.
I went to see him over my dismissal and in a heated exchange left while he was talking. It was an insulting thing to do because after all, he was the President.
The next day, I rang Donald Ramotar to ask him to convey my apology. I always knew Mr. Jagdeo would never have made a good President.

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I never had an acquaintance much less a close friendship with Bharrat Jagdeo

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