Latest update January 1st, 2025 1:00 AM

Guyana's largest selling daily and New York's most popular weekly

Latest News

Put biographical sketches of Presidential Candidates on the internet

Oct 15, 2011 Letters

 

 

Dear Editor,
November 28 is now the fateful day on which Guyanese will decide who they want to govern them for the next five years.
As I understand it, about ten parties may be contesting the elections but only three will be of any consequence. In alphabetical order, they are the AFC, the APNU and the PPP/C. The Presidential Candidate of one of those parties will be our next Executive President, our Head of State and Government.
Guyanese should now know all there is to know about those three persons, Ramjattan, Granger, and Ramotar, yet apart from their profession and present political status, much about them is not generally known. I for one hardly know anything about any one of them.
So I looked them up on the internet. I looked up Donald Ramotar first.  I found there is an entry for him in Wikipedia. They have his name, then date of birth in brackets and the fact that he is a Guyanese politician. Then from his date of birth in October 1950 he just disappeared from the face of this earth to reappear again on the 29th March, 1997, when he became General Secretary of the PPP. There is absolutely nothing about him in the intervening forty-six years.
I believe from the way things are shaping up Ramotar is going to be the next President of Guyana, and in consequence he is now too important a person to have that large area of darkness in his life.
Guyanese people need to know more about him, where he was born, who are his parents, what they did for a living, which primary and secondary schools he attended, what job training he had, is he a married man with a wife and children, and what did he do for a living until he appeared again in 1997.
Election in Guyana could be a nasty affair and that blank area in his life could, to his political opponents, be like a white wall to a graffiti artist.  They will have a compulsion to write their own messages on it.
For Khemraj Ramjattan there is nothing of his early life, not even his date of birth, and he does not even appear in Guyanese People Stubs. There is some entry about his present position and of course it is known that he is a lawyer and an ex-PPP top-ranker.
David Granger is not much different, though there is his date of birth and more information about when he joined the GDF, his publications and his successes at UG, there is nothing about his personal life.
I compare our leaders to some of the other leaders of the world whom I ‘Googled’. There is extensive information about those leaders, information about their history and background, from which you can really get an idea of the kind of people they are, the types of personalities they possess.
Are our leaders slipping up?  Guyanese at home and abroad really need to get to know their prospective leaders, and there are now a great many people with computers and connections to the internet.
I recommend our leaders take urgent and immediate steps to post biographical sketches of themselves on the internet, giving the fine details that can make people really know who they are, and how they are likely to react to the problems facing the country.
Kumar  D. Doobay

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show | December, 2nd, 2024

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Keevin Allicock – the next torchbearer for Guyanese professional boxing

Keevin Allicock – the next torchbearer for Guyanese professional...

Dec 31, 2024

By Rawle Toney Kaieteur Sports- In the rich tapestry of Guyanese sports, few names shine as brightly as Keevin Allicock. A prodigious talent with the rare blend of skill, charisma, and grit, Allicock...
Read More
Guyana Harpy Eagles begin Fitness Preparation for 2025 CWI Regional Four-Day Tournament

Guyana Harpy Eagles begin Fitness Preparation for...

Dec 31, 2024

The business end has arrived, a place in the final is at stake tomorrow night

The business end has arrived, a place in the...

Dec 31, 2024

Thirteen-year-old benefits from Project “Cricket Gear for young and promising cricketers in Guyana”

Thirteen-year-old benefits from Project...

Dec 31, 2024

Milerock stop Winners Connection 9-3 behind Drakes 5 goal spree, Botafago humble Capital Fc 8-3

Milerock stop Winners Connection 9-3 behind...

Dec 31, 2024

Dharry reigns supreme with second-round KO against Ramirez

Dharry reigns supreme with second-round KO...

Dec 30, 2024

Features/Columnists

Publisher’s Note

Freedom of speech is our core value at Kaieteur News. If the letter/e-mail you sent was not published, and you believe that its contents were not libellous, let us know, please contact us by phone or email.

Feel free to send us your comments and/or criticisms.
Contact: 624-6456; 225-8452; 225-8458; 225-8463; 225-8465; 225-8473 or 225-8491.
Or by Email: [email protected] / [email protected]

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]