Sasenarine Singh does not have the moral right to criticize anyone

Dec 31, 2016 Letters

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Dear Editor,
Mr. Sasenarine Singh’s letter published in the Kaieteur News on Friday December 23, 2016 captioned: “Was Ogunseye one of those who betrayed Walter Rodney?” was his latest twisted response in our ongoing polemic over his dishonest commentary on two measures in the 2017 national budget. Central to this controversy is Singh‘s integrity as an objective commentator on national issues and more importantly, his self-serving criticism of alleged corruption in the APNU+AFC government. By pretending to be an anti-corruption advocate, and saying that I am collecting gold coins, which is a betrayal of Walter Rodney, Singh is trying to divert attention from his corrupt history, some of which I have listed below.
Singh, after being exposed and stripped naked, is seeking to cover his “nakedness” by pretending to be a disciple of Dr. Walter Rodney. This claim by Singh to be a disciple of Rodney cannot be supported by Singh in any form or fashion. The truth of the matter is that he was never and given his tainted past will never be counted as who he claims to be. In my last response to Sase Singh, I cited for the benefit of other readers a web address that carried a video clip (readers can also Google Sasenarine Singh to hear the video) by a Guyanese businessman who claimed that during the period referred to in the video he was the largest distributor of flour in Guyana. He said that Sasenarine Singh while being an employee at the National Milling Company, demanded that he extend favours to acquire flour quotas. In the process of Singh’s behavior, the businessman complied. Various types of favours were offered by the businessman. It was a terrible episode and I prefer for readers to go to Google to get the entire picture.
By any standards the above is a set of damming accusations against the self-proclaimed “Liberal Democrat” and self-appointed anti-corruption fighter. They are compelling enough to demand from him at the least, a spirited denial, but instead Singh chose to ignore this matter. Why? The truth is these are not false and malicious accusations – the businessman’s name is listed and therefore known, and he challenged Singh to refute any or all of the statements he made against him. I spent hours searching the web and the newspaper in a futile attempt to find a denial from the so called Liberal Democrat. Needless to say nothing was found. This to my mind was not surprising. Old people say, “Monkey knows which limb to jump on”.
This is the view of Singh ‘s character by his accuser, “ Based upon my interactions with Singh, I do not believe that he has any moral authority to speak on the issue of corruption at all I do not believe that he has the integrity to hold public office”. This is in stark contradiction with Singh’s view of himself. He informs his readers that he is prepared to play a role in making Guyana the Singapore of the Western Hemisphere and sets out to give the impression that he is young enough to lead a pending youth revolution. While his aspirations may be admirable his credentials certainly are not, and they disqualify him.
In claiming identification with Walter Rodney, Singh said, “I want to be remembered like Rodney, as a man who stood with the poor and working class, and not like Tacuma who sold the poor and the working class out for a few gold coins”. I have already addressed his gold coins remarks in my previous letter. I will however repeat something that is known widely and that is I have been self-employed for the greater part of my working life and to date, no one, yes Sase Singh no one, not a single person, has ever accused me either publicly or privately, of extortion and corruption. This is the credentials I bring to my work at the State Asset Recovery Unit (SARU).
Let me say to Singh that if you wish to be remembered and spoken about in the same breath with Rodney you have to begin by denouncing and disproving the accusations made against you by the businessman, admit to wrongdoings, engage in public self-criticism and commit to a non-Singapore destiny for the Guyanese working people. Even if he finds it possible to do these things Sase Singh will still be a hundred light years away from being remembered and compared in the image of Walter Rodney.
It will be remiss of me not to ask Mr. Sasenarine Singh to tell the public who or which political force or forces started the disinformation after Walter was assassinated that it was his comrades in the WPA who betrayed him. Given his conviction in this matter, I will say Singh is in good company. I also want to remind him that in the French revolution the workers and the poor did not need certification to administer justice. Since he is an academic or something like that I will cite a quotation from a world renowned social/political thinker and revolutionary leader on profound social change in society, “Every cook must learn to govern.” I need not say who the person is since Singh’s UG training which he paid for with money given by request will help him to decipher who made the statement. I end by saying that I am a Guyanese “cook” in the employment of SARU who is learning how to govern.
Tacuma Ogunseye

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