Latest update December 4th, 2024 2:40 AM
GINA pays for ‘distasteful’ Ad campaign to smear PNC
Ad was an error in judgement – government official
One day after the Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, went public that there was need for serious media monitoring, the Government Information Agency (GINA) went on a campaign not only to smear the youth arm of the People’s National Congress and the House of Israel, but also to promote racial violence.
Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall
It has booked advertisements to be published in the various newspapers criticising the Parliamentary Opposition for cutting the budgetary allocation for certain agencies, including the state owned GINA and National Communications Network (NCN).
More recently it has also been publishing advertisements purporting to report on the Walter Rodney Commission of Inquiry.
Over the past two days there were advertisements booked by GINA and published in the various newspapers with quotations from Reverend Reuben Gilbert, Lawrence Rodney and Karen De Souza, all witnesses who testified before the Commission.
The quote attributed to De Souza which was first uttered whilst giving testimony at the COI reads “He (Rodney) had been finally killed by the Government (meaning the PNC).”
Another quote attributed to Lawrence Rodney, spoke to the House of Israel disrupting meetings and acts of violence.
The quote attributed to Reverend Gilbert spoke to Walter Rodney telling him that the YSM threatened to kill him.
Attorney General, Anil Nandlall has described the advertisement as distasteful and has intervened to halt its publication.
Another Government spokesman described the publication of the advertisement as an unfortunate mistake and an error in judgment on the part of the Government Information Agency.
The political opposition would only say that each day the Government Information Agency is justifying why the Parliamentary opposition could not vote any allocation to it.
The advertisement which came from GINA was booked for three days but a call was made to this publication’s advertising department yesterday cancelling the publication of the third booking which was meant for today’s paper.
A point to note is that when booking an advertisement, the request from GINA would usually be signed by the Advertising Coordinator.
The booking for the three advertisements related to the Rodney Commission was not.
The advertisement did not escape the attention of the main opposition coalition A Partnership for National Unity (APNU).
Member of Parliament Joseph Harmon told this newspaper yesterday that the statements coming out of the Commission of Inquiry has the capacity to create hysteria in Guyana.
Joseph Harmon
“The fact that the PPP can extract this, using state resources, using GINA to have these things republished in the daily newspapers and similar statements published on NCN Channel 11 shows that this government is prepared to incite racial hatred and violence in this country and we have to take a very firm stand against it as all right thinking Guyanese,” Harmon said.
He reiterated that the PPP government is climbing closer to being a dictatorship, where they are limiting press freedom by utilizing the Guyana Police Force to murder and brutalise people.
“What kind of society are we creating here under Donald Ramotar? He must understand that right thinking persons will not sit down and accept this,” Harmon said, adding that the actions of the PPP administration amount to a misuse of state funds by GINA.
“And this is why we cut the budget of GINA but they continue to spend it…but there’s gonna come a time when this has to stop and the time is drawing near,” the APNU Member of Parliament declared.
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