The former rulers are fooling themselves

Jun 14, 2015 Features / Columnists, My Column

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I was there in 1992 when the People’s Progressive Party came into office. Back then I had a head of black hair, sideburns and a lot of youth. I was the Editor-in-Chief of the Guyana Chronicle, a newspaper that was the top selling issue in Guyana because its pages were open to all.
Today, almost 23 years later I am still around, but during that period I watched the Chronicle slump to the lowest possible place a newspaper could hope to be. According to a recent report the company—Guyana National Newspapers Limited—is bankrupt. I don’t know how this could happen.
I then had to leave because I was perceived to be a member of the then political opposition. I left and the Man above has been good to me. I did not have to leave the country in search of employment, but only because I was a determined Guyanese. I remember Dr Roger Luncheon saying to me that I was one of the lucky ones, that the government could not prevent me from getting a job.
Today I hear talk about witch-hunt. I could not help but read the comments of the people who were once in the seat of government, about the current administration targeting people. For one, I couldn’t understand the comments when the very people were the ones who made no bones about targeting those perceived to be opposition members.
And it was not only kicking the people out of jobs they held for years, the spite went on to the point where they denied people benefits due to them. Noel Holder, the current Minister of Agriculture was one of them as was Norman McLean.  Fortunately, these people did not have to depend on that money to live.
There was an economist who was based in Office of the President. Her name was Darlene Harris (no relation). I watched her cry when she was kicked out. Dr Luncheon did the kicking. She was just an employee who had no pretentions to political life but she was ordered out of office in a most unceremonial manner.
These recollections come flooding back when I hear people talk about witch-hunt. When the shoe is on the other foot it really pinches. And that is not the whole story. I am in the process of recovering a list of the victimized that was first published back in 1993. The column that contained those names was titled ‘Lean, Clean and Mean’.
This time around the new government is asked to maintain a relationship with people who were actually on the PPP list of candidates. Some of them were Permanent Secretaries. There was a media head who informed staff that if the opposition people attempt to place advertisements, then the staff must say that all the spots have been taken.
This woman had the nerve to criticize the government of being less than professional. From my vantage point, I sit and look at the shenanigans by those who at one time felt that they could never lose an election in Guyana. In fact, they often said as much.
To their credit, though, the new government is concerned about making life in Guyana better for all. Guyanese in the various corner of the world now say that they feel a breath of fresh air. The calls from overseas were too numerous to mention. I had people from all over the world calling in to congratulate all those who fought for the successes of May 11, 2015.
Kaieteur News merely focused on the shortcomings of the then government and was accused of being an opposition media house. Such an accusation came about because as a watchdog for the people, the newspaper was keen to highlight what the people were losing.
But we took it in stride. There were people who called us brave because they believed that anyone who attempts to take on a government is dicing with danger.
And so today I continue to do what I have been doing for 23 years, writing about what I see around me. I will also be enjoying what the people would be doing in Brooklyn, New York. They say that they felt the breath of fresh air and to breath freely they are going to have a victory parade and rally along Church Street.
People have come from far and wide. There are Guyanese who came from the West Coast and from the mid-West. Of course, there is a large Guyanese contingent in Brooklyn and an even larger one in Queens. They are going to be celebrating with unbridled enthusiasm within a few hours.
Many of them would have left Guyana after 1992. I know that my ex-wife and children did, and they were among the first to call in their congratulations. They knew what I went through in the early days. I remember them begging me to come out and I insisted that I will rest my bones right here.
So for now, I would like to see the people who felt that they could never lose an election in Guyana join the government, even if it is only in the National Assembly. There is so much to do. I am also tempted to ask some of them to return the money they took for their personal gains, more money than they could spend in their lifetime.

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