Kwayana’s position makes Walter Rodney turn in his grave

May 15, 2020 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

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I was trained in history and the social sciences. I have a duty to history to put down things (I prefer to write “things” and not “facts and truths”) that I see in my lifetime. I expect others to do the same; that is the right of humans in society. I have never been deterred from writings about “things” I saw unfolding among people. Their iconic standing, eminence and heroic status have never been factors I consider even for a fleeting moment.
History will end up as a distorted record in the hand of future generations if academics, social activists and human rights crusaders do not contribute to the recording of history. For this reason, certain published documents are priceless. I can think as a powerful example, Father Andrew Morrison’s book; “Justice: The Struggle for Democracy in Guyana, 1952-1992.”
I recently read a letter by Mr. E. B. John in which glowing things were said about former Chancellor of the Judiciary, Aubrey Bishop. There is another side to Bishop. He put the judiciary at the service of the autocratic rule of President Burnham. I think no one should disagree with Mr. John on his admiration of Bishop. Others who see a negative side should not confront John but write on what they know.
Enter David Hinds. “I find Freddie’s repeated attacks on Eusi Kwayana most distasteful. It is rooted in his disproportionate personal attacks on the WPA and its leaders.” He chose to use the word “attack.” I have called into question Kwayana’s extreme bias in his approach to the 2020 rigged election. I cannot do anything about David’s feeling that such an endeavour is an attack. David uses the word, “personal” to describe my ongoing revisionist investigation into just who these WPA leaders were in the seventies.
My conclusion is unapologetic. The WPA has generated some of the most unprincipled and philosophically deformed activists that Guyana’s politics has produced. Some even more flawed than many PPP and PNC leaders. I believe the “truths” and “facts” of the WPA’s politics are yet to be pronounced on and scholars must research these questionable people.
Here now is my offering on Kwayana’s perspective on the 2020 election which I believe should cause us to question all that he has handed down to the younger generation including me. He wants a tribunal into the one day of post- election violence in March.
I asked him why not a tribunal into Claudette Singh’s horror show. He responded; “I for one, consider it unhelpful to prattle about facts I do not have…the impressions I am getting are not founded on facts that may pass my own test…I cannot pretend to be unaffected by the statement of (Singh) that she intended to deliver to the public a valid election. I have often wondered to what extent those who appealed to her public spiritedness…have taken the necessary steps to support her started aspirations.”
Here now is what this gentleman who doesn’t have the real facts about Singh wrote in KN yesterday; (1) He heard what was said about the counting process from the government owned radio station. (2) He heard what APNU+AFC candidate, Ganesh Mahipaul said about spreadsheets being used in other districts. (3) He heard on the same state radio that one observer mission referred to the bloated list but chose not to name that mission; maybe conveniently. (4) He knows there were irregularities even before the March 4 impasse. (5) He knows campaign money was spent without the source of it being revealed. (6) He knows what offends Kissoon’s sense of judgment and how I feel about certain issues. (7) He welcomed the international observers but his welcome must not involve their abuse of authority. So he knows about who is abusing their authority. Does Singh abuse her authority?
Kwayana, after two months of deplorable misconduct by Singh, doesn’t have the facts to pass judgment on this citizen of Guyana. This gentleman admits he doesn’t know what wrong-doing Singh is engaged in. Here is Kwayana again, “Finally, I am in no hurry, as Mr. Kissoon seems to be, to pass judgment on the brief incumbency of the Chairperson of Guyana’s Election Commission”. I say unapologetically, Kwayana doesn’t want to pass judgment and will not pass judgment because it suits his approach to the rigging of the 2020 general elections. I think one can use a harsh term to describe that attitude of Kwayana but I will refrain out of respect. In his reply to me yesterday, he showed fondness for quoting Guyanese proverbs. Here is one that is applicable to Kwayana – “moon ah run till day ketch am”. Day and history have caught up and exposed Kwayana.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

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