I don’t feel sorry for Charlie

Jul 02, 2019 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

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I thought of giving this column, the title, “Why did Charlie do it?” This is in reference to one of the cutest films I saw when I was about 14 years of age. The name is “Charade.” It remains one of the favourite movies for me and my wife.
In the movie, Charlie is a mystery figure. In Guyana, Charlie, too, is a mystery figure. The Charlie I am referring to is Charles Ceres, prominent Guyanese engineer.
Charlie has decided to sue Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo for libel because the way Jagdeo shaped Charlie’s purchase of state land, he made it appear that Charlie’s acquisition was not above the table. Charlie provided evidence that his thing was legitimate.
The story of the sale of land to certain individuals has invoked the wrath of my friend, David Hinds, who thinks Jagdeo is being mischievous.
At the level of conscience one can be disgusted at how Mr. Jagdeo twisted the land purchase of Charlie, Eric Philips and others but in terms of realpolitik, Jagdeo is not different from any other politician in the world including those in Guyana.
All politicians obfuscate dimensions of their political career and highlight others to win votes. I digress on the subject of Charlie by giving two recent examples
I read a recent column by Henry Jeffrey, one of the founders of the political party, ANUG, that will be contesting the upcoming general elections. Jeffrey said he first saw the blackout dilemma after he returned as government official from a trip to Cuba in 1976. Jeffrey went on to lament the electricity crisis since then.
If you are from another planet and read that piece by Jeffrey, you would never know that this same gentleman was a senior minister of government after 1992 for fifteen years. Jeffrey chose not to mention that fact.
The second example relates to Winston Jordan, the Finance Minister. The CCJ decision on the no-confidence vote came at a time when there was a Cabinet outreach in Bartica. Addressing a public meeting, Jordan blurted out, “war break.”
He urged citizens to take to the streets to demand house to house registration so the upcoming elections could be credible. He shouted out; “Comrades, be on the ready… We will be able to call you out to picket for House-to-House registration. No registration, no elections…CCJ or no CCJ….”
What Jeffrey left out was deliberate because he has to face the electorate soon. How Jagdeo put the land sale was intentional because he is appealing to his supporters. What Jordan exclaimed was designed to galvanize the base of the PNC. The question is the impact of what Jagdeo said.
Many persons will feel that in selling land to the individuals named then the Guyana Government in transferring wealth on an ethnic basis. This is where the question of impact comes in. But the effect could have blunted immediately if there was a body of scholarly material out there by African Guyanese academics and politicians to confront the constant narrative of certain Indian scholars who relentlessly inform the nation there is no way to document ethnic ownership of wealth in Guyana and that since such ownership is unknown, it has no useful place in the national narrative.
Please see the following columns of mine; Friday, March 29, 2019, “The reason African Guyanese intellectuals are afraid of the ESD topic;” Monday, March 18, 2019, “Only a dishonest academic cannot measure ethnic economic assets;” Monday, March 4, 2019, “Political rejection of African Guyanese entitlement under the guise of scholarship;” Friday, February 22, 2019, “My problem with Indian academics writing about African Guyanese.”
The above are just four items that I have contributed to the ongoing polemic of ethnic ownership of wealth in this country. There are several columns. Drs. Tarron Khemraj, Ramesh Gampat and Baytoram Ramharack are relentless in the newspapers’ letter section and in their columns that you cannot measure ethnic ownership of wealth in Guyana.
And no one from the other side has even replied with a brief scholarly note. Where was Charlie when these three economists were giving their viewpoints? Where are the African Guyanese scholars who can be found in many parts of the world? Do they agree with Ramharack, Khemraj and Gampat? If no, then who don’t they write?
I close with a definitive position. There are thousands of Guyanese East Indians who have substantial wealth. But we have to respect that. It came the old-fashioned way. Those people work, invested and took risks.
We should not envy them. We should admire that aspect of Guyanese life. But in scientific terms, ethnic ownership of wealth in Guyana can be ascertained.

In my column yesterday, I was bamboozled

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