Politicians in all countries use national awards as patronage

Jun 03, 2017 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

Dr. David Hinds wrote that he pays little attention to national awards. Before I read that statement, I knew how Aubrey Norton felt about it. It was around 8 pm last Sunday when I reached the studios of channel 9 to share a panel with Aubrey. As I entered the door of channel 9, Aubrey was seated waiting to go in front the cameras. Our host, Elise Harry told us that we would be a bit late.
I sat next to Aubrey and my first topic was a question of how Cammie Ramsaroop became our High Commissioner to Trinidad and Halim Majeed our ambassador to Cuba. Those two appointments I do find weird. I remember bringing up the national awards because in the Kaieteur News offices the day before and elsewhere, there was talk about the CCH award (the third highest) to UG Vice Chancellor Ivelaw Griffith.
Aubrey said he does not pay much attention to national awards. So there you have it; two powerful personalities in the modern history of Guyanese politics care little about the national awards.
Griffith’s name was mentioned to me by several persons because of the lower award (AA) given to Dr. Mark Kirton. On the very day the awardees were named in the media there was an interview with the Vice Chancellor by another newspaper and he mentioned that he had lived for thirty-six years outside of Guyana.
If you put him in his early sixties, then Professor Griffith has lived the greater part of his life outside of Guyana. On the other hand, I worked with Mark Kirton at UG in the same department for twenty-six years and Kirton was a lecturer about five years before I joined the staff.
I do not want to take anything away from Professor Griffith. I am not going to deny him his award. But people who know me and read my daily column would know I speak my mind. I want to be courteous to Dr. Griffith. This is the country I have lived in all my life; I know who has achieved what. I honestly believe that Dr. Kirton has done more for my alma mater, UG, and my work place, UG, and my country, Guyana, than Professor Griffith.
Logics tell me that if you are going to give national awards to two outstanding academics, then please tell me what criteria you have used to make the comparison. I would have also included Dr. Kirton for the CCH.
I do not take national awards seriously. I believe most analysts around the world do not; and for the obvious fact that it is a way of ruling politicians patronizing those they like or want to be nice to. The word appalling is mild compared to what I want to say about my attitude to the Order of Excellence (OE) given to Dr. Compton Bourne by then President Jagdeo.
Here is how it happened. Bourne received the award while he was President of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB). Jagdeo wanted loans. Fair exchange is no robbery as they say when I was a small boy growing up in Wortmanville. After the award, a loan of $660 million for primary education was awarded by Bourne and the loans kept pouring in. (see KN, May 27, 2014). Bourne was subsequently given a Pradoville 2 house-lot and quite surprisingly SOCU officials have not travelled to Trinidad to interview him.
Why was the OE given to Bourne? The official explanation was for academic excellence in the field of economics. Really! Is there anyone in the English-speaking Caribbean that has produced greater brilliance in the field of economic studies of the Caribbean area than Professor Clive Thomas? Does anyone living human in Guyana deserve the OE more than Clive Yolande Thomas?
Then there was the Order of Roraima (OR) given to Hamilton Green. As in the case of Ivelaw Griffith, I will not deny awards. My point here is to give awards not to deny them. So Green got the OR. Are there others in Guyana who should have been given the OR that came from the same period as Green. My mind thinks of Moses Bhagwan, Andaiye and a few others.
What the PPP presidents did, what the current APNU+AFC leaders are now doing is what future leaders of Guyana will continue to do – use the award facility as patronage. Guyana is not alone in this kind of human nature.
Don’t forget, Obama shared out nuff ambassadorships after he became president. The recipients included people who were big donors. That’s politics. It will always be like that.

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