One of Nigel Hinds’ emails to me

May 27, 2017 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

Below is one of several email exchanges, I have had with city accountant and former APNU supporter, Nigel Hinds. Hinds was an accountancy major when I was a lecturer at UG, though I cannot remember speaking to him. After the 2011 general elections, APNU questioned the validity of the totality of the statements of poll, and I know Hinds was the APNU person looking into the party’s interest in the recounting of those documents.
After the 2015 elections, I know he was given forensic audit assignments and was made chairman of the board of GWI. Mr. Hinds, the past few months is in an aggressive mood, denouncing the performance and policies of the ruling coalition. He has even aimed his weapon at iconic Guyanese, Clive Thomas, accusing this outstanding citizen of betraying the WPA and the Guyanese working class. Mr. Hinds fell out with APNU for reasons I care not to want to know.
Since his critical letters against the ruling coalition regime, Mr Hinds has now undergone what President Forbes Burnham was fond of saying, an, “attitudinal metamorphosis.” The evidence of this is his letter on me to several newspapers; the caption for this letter in the Kaieteur News is, “Enumeration of Freddie Kissoon’s attacks on Jagdeo’s character.”
Here is a brief extract from the letter; “Mr. Fredrick Kissoon has used his platform at Kaieteur News to demonize the character, reputation and accomplishments of Guyana’s former President, Mr. Bharat Jagdeo by constantly, relentlessly and irrationally speaking ill of Jagdeo. What purpose does this serve?”
I reproduce below one of several email exchanges I had with Mr. Hinds. The one here is dated November 28, 2012, and is offered in its entirety.”

“Hi Freddie,
My first vote at the General Elections was for the WPA in 1992 and my last vote at the General Elections was for PNC in 2001. Most people are as faithful as their options/opinions. Age does not presume wisdom. Amazingly we are having this exchange exactly one year after the last General Elections; I certainly would have voted for APNU if I was in Guyana on November 28, 2011. We have to be patient with David Granger, he is a challenging study as the leader of a political party or group, many of us believe that David is an excellent strategist – losing a few battles to win the war is how I assess the APNU leader. PPP/C is in disarray: As a result of the work of APNU & AFC – Nandlall the Attorney General is running to court on many a fools’ errand, Rohee is muzzled for good cause, AFC is gaining prominence; Luncheon has lost any semblance of credibility; Ramotar is a case study for application of the Peter Principle and we can go on and on ….The opposition has made mistakes; but overall PPP/C has failed to gain traction and probably has lost support in Guyana and abroad. Let us not be our own enemy. I strongly recommend you read the Meditations written by Marcus Aurelius. And again I leave you with one of his quotes “Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective not the truth”.
Kind regards,
Nigel.”

My question to Hinds is; when he wrote that email, did he believe President Jagdeo had character and reputation? If the answer is yes, then why in the email did he observe that Luncheon, who was not the president or ever held the presidency, has lost credibility? Why would Luncheon lose credibility and not his boss Bharrat Jagdeo, for over a dozen years?
In the same way, Hinds can find time and energy to devote a long letter criticizing me for “attacking Jagdeo’s reputation and character” maybe he can find similar mental attributes to tell this nation what the accomplishments of Mr. Jagdeo are, and describe for us the character of this former president. I hope if and when he does so, he remembers and quotes the words of Ms. Varshnie Singh that are contained in some terrible accusations against Mr. Jagdeo.
I wrote this column here because of the reaction I got from a few voices I received on my position on Mr. Hinds’ letter contained in my column yesterday. I was told that for Hinds to defend a president like Jagdeo he must have gone out of his mind, and I should let Hinds know what a tyrant Jagdeo was. I will not tell anyone that he/she has lost his/her mind. I have been an activist since 16 and now I am in my sixties, and have been told since then that I am always out of my mind.