Has Freddie misled readers on wife’s termination?

Jan 23, 2013 Letters

Dear Editor,
In his column titled “An extraordinarily unbelievable year for Guyana” (KN Jan 4), Mr. Kissoon accused the government of terminating his employment and firing his wife from her government’s job. Over the years, I supported Mr. Kissoon in several of his personal grouses and allegations against the government only to learn afterwards he was misleading (and at times outright dishonest) in his assertions and claims.
I sympathized with and wrote against the termination of Kissoon’s contract at UG. I condemned the physical (the slap or punch) he suffered as well as the dumping of faeces on his head. And when the drain at the side of his house was not cleaned of thick vegetation, the theft of library books at UG and in Canada, etc., etc., I supported Freddie.
Having determined that many of Kissoon’s previous claims have been embellished and or are not accurate, and given that I went out on a limb to defend or support him against unverified allegations he leveled against the government, I decided to carry out an investigation to determine the veracity of his accusation that the government fired his wife from her employment at Go Invest.
Many who know Freddie, say he tells “nuff, nuff lies” (nah so Fred). Some described him as a pathological liar and are unable to explain why he lies or exaggerates or why he can’t come straight.
Mr. Kissoon accused the government of firing his wife (and he made that allegation on numerous occasions in columns). I sought the assistance of several credible individuals, including Ministers, and other officials and even condemned them for “firing” Freddie’s wife. They vehemently denied the allegation.
I was able to obtain the following information: Mrs. Kissoon was not fired from her job and such accusation by Freddie is wrong, untruthful and misleading. The office where she worked was reorganized and her position was found to be redundant. Mrs. Kissoon was given a choice of working at another office which she declined.
It was not clear to me whether she was forced to retire or is on early retirement. But she is approaching mandatory retirement age which Kissoon reached in July 2011. For Kissoon to say that his contract was terminated at UG is also misleading. He attained mandatory retirement age and was given a short term contract as a lecturer.
Apparently, the UG contract was not properly done and it violated certain rules and requirements and as a result it was withdrawn after a term. So Kissoon also was not fired from his job contrary to his unsupported claim.
In several columns, Kissoon accused the government of being behind the assaults on him. But he offered no evidence. No one is able to offer any credible reasons why the government would want to go after Kissoon physically. He does not pose a threat to the administration and the majority of the population does not take Kissoon’s writings seriously.
At any rate, Kissoon has been a perennial critic of the PPP since 1995. So why would the government wait till now to go after him or his wife who has been working for the government for some 25 years. I was informed that Mrs. Kissoon is a charming, competent, peaceful, easy going, and hard working woman and someone who is admired by colleagues and peers. So the government had no vindictive reason to fire her.
I was unable to confirm whether anyone who is less senior to Mrs. Kissoon was retained at the post or whether her post was eliminated with her approval. There is no reason to believe that Mrs. Kissoon was targeted for termination at a government position. And she absolutely was not fired contrary to Mr. Freddie Kissoon’s claim.
Perhaps Mrs. Kissoon can clear the air on her employment status and whether she is receiving pension. If Mrs. Kissoon was wrongfully terminated, she would be entitled to large compensation.
Vishnu Bisram

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Has Freddie misled readers on wife’s termination?

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