Govt. attempting political hijacking of the UN Year for People of African Descent

Jan 10, 2011 News

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– PNCR

The PNCR at its weekly press briefing on Friday at Congress Place has accused the PPP/C regime of seeking to use the “Year for People of African Descent” for political and electioneering purposes, rather than in the interest of the people for whom the year has been dedicated.
Lance Carberry, Chief Whip of the main opposition party said that the first action by the Administration was to exclude all legitimate organisations representing African Guyanese from formal representation on their so called National Committee.
Instead, he noted, the PPP/C administration has sought to manipulate individuals of African descent to give the false impression that Afro-Guyanese are fully involved in the programme.
He noted that the PNCR is aware that the well-known organisations of African people have not been formally involved. This includes the African Cultural Development Association (ACDA), the Pan African Congress and the Council of African Organisations of Guyana.
The Chief Whip said that the PNCR, as a major political Party in Guyana with acknowledged African support, has also never been formally invited to participate, while the PPP has sought to exercise control over the programme by placing its well known front man, James Rose to engineer the outcome.
“More shocking”, Carberry said, “is the report of the planned state launching of this event later in January where it is proposed to place the main oppressor of African Guyanese over the past nineteen years, to dominate.”
Later, Party Leader Robert Corbin, when pressed by Kaieteur News to indentify the ‘main oppressor’ of African Guyanese, referred to features and actions of the present administration as constituting the ‘main oppressor’ of African Guyanese.
Latest information, it was posited, is that the President has instructed that no prominent African Guyanese that holds different views from that of the ruling party should appear on the opening programme at which he is scheduled to make the feature presentation.
Carberry contended that Guyanese ought to take note of these developments so that they are not duped into supporting a partisan political event. He noted that the PNCR will shortly make a more definitive statement on this event after discussions with the legitimate organisations of African Guyanese.
2011 has been dedicated by the United Nations as “Year for People of African Descent”, in acknowledgment of the challenges endured and contributions made by people of African origin.
Secretary General of the United Nations Ban ki-Moon, last December, said that the international community cannot accept that whole communities are marginalised because of the colour of their skin. He told an event at UN Headquarters in New York to launch the Year, that “People of African descent are among those most affected by racism. Too often, they face denial of basic rights such as access to quality health services and education. Such fundamental wrongs have a long and terrible history.”
He added that, “The international community has affirmed that the transatlantic slave trade was an appalling tragedy not only because of its barbarism but also because of its magnitude, organised nature and negation of the essential humanity of the victims.”
“As the Universal Declaration of Human Rights affirms, ‘all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights’,” the Secretary General said.
“If we are to make those words real, then we must eradicate racism once and for all. The success of the International Year requires concerted efforts across the United Nations system and at the regional and national levels, with the widest possible engagement and participation.”
Also addressing the event was the Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, Ivan Šimonovic, who said the International Year offers a unique opportunity to redouble efforts to fight racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance that affect Afro-descendents in all parts of the world.
Simonovic contended that the International Year must become a milestone in the ongoing campaign to advance the rights of people of African descent and it deserves to be accompanied by activities that fire the imagination, enhance the understanding of the situation of people of African descent and are a catalyst for real and positive change in the daily lives of the millions of Afro-descendents around the world.
Slavery in the British colonies; inclusive of Guyana was abolished in 1838 after a combination of economic, humanitarian, political and revolutionary factors combined to cause its gradual dissolution.

Emancipated African Guyanese, in turn, paid certain levied taxes whose object was to fund an immigration scheme which was specifically designed to undercut the bargaining power of a new African working class.
Guyanese historian Walter Rodney referred to the revolts of the African proletariat in the 1840s as the genesis of the Guyanese working class.
The UN General Assembly proclaimed the Year in December 2009 in a resolution citing the need to strengthen national actions and regional and international cooperation to ensure that people of African descent fully enjoy economic, cultural, social, civil and political rights, to advance their integration into all political, economic, social and cultural aspects of society, and to promote a greater knowledge of and respect for their diverse heritage and culture.

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