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I am merely asking a question of Raphael Trotman and the AFC

Jan 27, 2017 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

My April 2, 2016 column was an analysis of a speech Raphael Trotman made at a public meeting in Bartica for Local Government elections. My assessment was off-target (maybe that is putting it mildly). I subsequently reassessed my evaluation of his delivery. I had attributed thoughts to Mr. Trotman that could not have been located in the actual speech. The most logical and decent thing to do was to apologize. I did that in a column the very next day.
Against that background, I have chosen my words in this column very carefully. This article here is simply asking Raphael Trotman and the AFC leader to comment on information I was given by three members of the decisive organ of the AFC that makes policies in between meetings of its general council of 35 members that meet every four months. That body is named the Management Committee. It normally has around 18 members. It meets every Monday at 5pm at the AFC’s head office. It has been in discussion every Monday since the General elections in May 2015.
When Trotman announced that he would run for the leader of the party, three very prominent members of this body informed me that they were surprised at Trotman accepting nomination, because he has been absent from a substantial number of meetings of the Management Committee. In order to prevent a fiasco from the last column on Trotman, I specifically enquired if there are minutes of each meeting and a record of those present and absent. I was told that there are, so the AFC minutes for the past two years could be produced.
Here now is the essential point of this article. I am asking if it is true that Mr. Trotman missed such a considerable number of meetings. I regard Mr. Trotman and the AFC leaders as people with integrity. I will not question their integrity if there is no reason to. But I boldly say that I trust the three executives who gave me this information.
I would hope that if the AFC and Mr. Trotman respond to the question here, there would be some resort to the minutes. If my editor should ask me to name for him the three executives I will do so, and I will name a fourth who briefly raised the issue with me. In the world of journalism, the editor is entitled to know your sources. Those four persons obviously will not be revealed by my editor; only if they so choose.
At this point I will close the subject before I get into choppy waters. At all cost I want to avoid a repetition of my misanalysis in the controversial column for which I had to apologize. Readers can see there is no analysis or interpretation or criticism here. I was given information by three very nationally known executives of the AFC and, on that basis, I have asked for a response. If Mr. Trotman and the AFC indicate that such missed attendance did not occur, then so be it. If there has been such absenteeism, then maybe Mr. Trotman and the AFC may or may not care to comment.
There is a question that could be logically asked; why bring up the issue at all?
As a political analyst, I think it is a valid, almost perfect question to ask in any democratic country as to why one of the leaders of a party in government would be absent so often (if he was) from his party’s war room.
I do know that the WPA has a weekly programme on channel 9 under the title, Walter Rodney’s Groundings. I look at the presentation each Sunday. Obviously you will miss some weeks. For the past five years, I could definitely say that I have not seen the Co-Leader, Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine on the programme. I have seen the other Co-Leader, Dr. Clive Thomas quite often, but not within recent months.

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