Eusi Kwayana: controversial and outspoken

Mar 31, 2021 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,

During the past year, thousands of persons have died mainly because of the pandemic. However, it is heartening to say that many, including several prominent nonagenarians, are “still batting” and doing well. Among them are Balram Singh Rai, former Home Affairs Minister, who is now 99 years old; Sir Shridath Ramphal, Ashton Chase and Eusi Kwayana. In this article, I will focus on Kwayana, who will be 96 on Sunday April 4. The former Sydney King is unique and has been described as eccentric, odd, controversial, too outspoken. I was fortunate to meet with him on numerous occasions in Guyana. Even in the High Court when Forbes Burnham brought a libel suit against him for certain defamatory utterances he made in his OPEN WORD newspaper. I was junior counsel in the case and withdrew the suit against him before Justice Prem Persaud after the passing of the President in August 1985. Kwayana was not legally represented but filed a 28-page defence pleading justification. Kwayana struck me as a person who is not afraid of anyone, says, and does things he feels that are justified. Frail looking, not properly clad, eats very little, nuts his favourite, and to many a genius. He wrote the lyrics of the party song for three political parties, the PPP, PNC and WPA, a few books, including Scars of Bondage, the Indo Guyanese contribution to social changes, and Walter Rodney: his last days. He was a schoolteacher, politician from village to cabinet level. He was a member of the PPP cabinet in 1953, when the British suspended the constitution because it was felt that the Jagan administration was engaged in communist activities. The distinguished Guyanese was an executive member of both the PPP and PNC and one of the founders of the WPA. He was co founder of the African Society for Racial Equality (ASRE) and later the African Society for Cultural Relations with Independent Africa (ASCRIA).
Kwayana was very close to Jagan, so much so, that in the 1947 general elections he played a very important role in securing votes from the black electorates in Buxton, which gave Cheddi a very narrow victory of 121 votes. Eusi was with Cheddi since 1948 in the Political Affairs Committee, the forerunner of the PPP, which was inaugurated in January 1950. Kwayana was not in favour of the PPP contesting all 24 seats in 1953 because of the lack of ethnic solidarity. He felt that it would have been better to go with eight seats… but both Cheddi and Burnham ignored Eusi, went ahead with the 24 and won 16 seats, but the government only lasted 133 days. It seems to me that Eusi was correct as regards “ethnic solidarity” because up to today there is racial strife. Many accused Kwayana of being racist, but I do not think he is, he is concerned about the poor and down trodden. In fact Cheddi himself in his book “West on trial” regarding the 1947 elections, said that Kwayana (Sydney King) was of great help to him … and was one of his protégés.
He is remembered for being bitter with the British, when he said in 1953, “this confounded nonsense must stop.” Recently, he was being criticized for not ridiculing the APNU+AFC coalition government for trying to steal the 2020 elections in the vote counting exercise. Eight years ago, I wrote an article criticizing the authorities for not bestowing a national honour on this great Guyanese. Ashton Chase, his cabinet colleague, who is still around was honoured with the OE, as well as Sir Shridath Ramphal.
Eusi left Guyana several moons ago and is now residing in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States. He writes letters periodically to Guyana’s newspapers.

Yours truly,
Oscar Ramjeet

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