Who do you believe – Ramjattan or Charrandass?

Nov 14, 2020 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

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Kaieteur News – Last Tuesday, the guest on the Naim Chan Show on Channel Six was Khemraj Ramjattan. I would suggest you contact either Channel Six or Mr. Chan to get a copy of that tape if you are a young person with an interest in politics because the tape will reveal how contorted Guyana’s politics is.
What came out of the mouth of the AFC leader was so shocking and stupid that perhaps it makes Ramjattan one of the most despicable politicians this country has produced. Chan asked Ramjattan to respond to Charrandass Persaud’s accusations that as the AFC’s MP for Berbice he did not know that the government was closing the sugar estates in Region Six and he was not informed.
Brace yourself for the mind of a politician named Khemraj Ramjattan. The AFC leader used these two words, “voluminous lie” in response to the claim of Charrandass. Ramjattan explained that throughout the time the policy to close the estates was being shaped, Amna Ally as Chief Whip kept Charrandass informed at all times. Charrandass told me this is not true. I believe him. I repeat; I believe Charrandass over Ramjattan. Here is why.
What Ramjattan said in that interview makes him the biggest clown the AFC produced. You have to be stupid to tell an interviewer that the PNC’s chief whip in parliament kept an AFC member of parliament informed all the time of government’s policy towards the sugar industry when that very MP’s colleague from the AFC is the minister in charge of agriculture with portfolio for sugar.
Ramjattan was silly to think that people in Guyana do not know what the role of a Chief Whip is. A simple Google search would reveal that the role of Chief Whip is a function an MP performs in parliament. The Chief Whip makes sure that all government MPs vote for government’s legislation, is punctual in parliament; attend committee meetings, etc. Simply put, the role of the Chief Whip is to keep a meticulous eye on the parliamentary postures of government MPs.
When parliament is not in session, it is impossible anywhere in the world for the Chief Whip to meet with MPs to inform them of government policies in specific or in general areas. That task is for the ministers who have individual portfolios. It is the ministers who have to explain the reasons for policies so that MPs understand and accept.
The Minister in charge of the sugar industry was from the AFC, Noel Holder. He attended AFC’s internal meetings with Charrandass. Why would the Chief Whip be explaining the sugar industry directions under the APNU+AFC government when three AFC persons were directly involved in things that were taking place. They were Holder as Agriculture Minister; Prime Minister, Moses Nagamootoo, and special representative of the Prime Minister for Region Six, Gobin Harbhajan.
Both Holder and Harbajhan would know more of what was happening in the sugar industry than Amna Ally whose Cabinet portfolio was unrelated to the sugar industry. Interesting too is the fact that a five-minute drive separated the homes of Harbhajan and Charrandass in Berbice. When parliament was not in session, Ally would not see Charrandass for months but Harbhajan would see him almost every day.
Another angle to look at is why the Chief Whip had to keep Charrandass abreast with what was going on in the sugar industry and not Charrandass’ party leader, Ramjatan, who is also from Berbice? The Americans once used a popular word to describe conversation that was essentially foolish – jive-talk. Ramjattan was jive-talking with Mr. Chan. What he told Chan about the Chief Whip and Charrandass in relation to the closure of sugar estates in Berbice makes no sense. It is highly illogical and simply asinine.
Charrandass told me more times than I could count that he was not being kept abreast on what was taking place in Berbice by the AFC leadership including the Minister of Agriculture and his party leader. The Guyanese people are now told that Charrandass committed a “voluminous lie” because he always had the eyes and ears of Chief Whip, Amna Ally.
Another idiotic moment was on display in that interview. Chan asked Ramjattan how he could explain the contradiction between a position he enunciated to his staff, telling them goodbye and wishing them well because, he, Ramjattan, thinks the PPP has won the election yet denying that he said so when his words are on tape. Ramjattan’s response was unbelievable. He refuses to accept his own words that are recorded. This man denied he called his staff to say goodbye. At the end of the interview, Chan played the tape for his viewers and listeners.

(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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