Johnny Mathis sings about the key at the AFC’s funeral

Apr 20, 2021 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

Kaieteur News – The AFC had been in power five years during which I must have produced about 2,000 columns of which hundreds, I repeat, literally hundreds may have been caustic, tempestuous and academic condemnations of the dead meat the AFC became after it teamed up with the PNC and WPA to share state power. The term dead meat is not mine but was coined by the leader, Khemraj Ramjattan.
There has been a deluge of resignations since the legal and fair defeat of the APNU+AFC in the March general election last year. The media have continued to highlight this exodus. What has not made the news is that there have been literally hundreds of unwritten resignations, meaning people have gone but they are so contemptuous of the cock-eyed (figuratively speaking) leaders in the AFC that they just could not be bothered with sending in a piece of paper.
Take Trevor Williams; he is as high profile as any on the list of resignations since the electoral defeat. Williams told me he is long gone and he wrote a resignation letter since last year, planned to take it to Ramjattan but has not seen it as urgent. The Williams attitude tells a story of two types of resignations. One is paper based. Here you have a document with a signature saying, “I’m done.”
The other resignation is non-existent but it exists. It is not a paper document. It is not a voice emanation. It is action based. The action of the person tells you he/she is gone from the organisation. The most important manifestation of the second type of resignation is Leonard Craig.
Craig was the Deputy General Secretary and regarded as the person closest to joining the hierarchy of the AFC, dominated by the gang of six – Alstrom Stewart from Jamaica and in Guyana, Dominic Gaskin, Raphael Trotman, Khemraj Ramjattan, David Patterson (aka – mountain climber because he climbed the gate of the Arthur Chung Conference Centre and got stuck) and Cathy Hughes (aka, the Russian lady after her exclamation that the Russians came to rig the election in March).
Craig has tendered no resignation of any type but Craig is gone from the AFC. I have been informed that many executive and second tier leaders like Craig are gone (to Cove and John as they said when I was a little boy) or very inactive, very distant from the AFC or have ridden off into the sunset.
I have been informed that three AFC parliamentarians may give up their seats in 2022 thus quitting politics. I have been informed that at the forthcoming June congress, Raphael Trotman, will not be contesting any leadership position. I have two personal friends that live right next door to the AFC’s head office – Dawn and Raymond Persaud. I visit them often. You have to see the AFC’s head office.
No one has been to that place in months. You can see the cobwebs hanging all over the place. There is no question about it – wood ants are eating out the headquarters of the AFC. The only person that used to visit the building was former Indigenous Affairs Minister, Garido Lowe. This was shortly after the new government was elected. Since November last year, she has not been seen going there. No one goes there.
The truth is that the AFC is dead. Do you know there is a big Johnny Mathis hit that is amazingly relevant in describing the death of the AFC? The key is the symbol of the AFC and listen to Mathis’ use of the word, “key.” The song’s title is, “Too much, too little, too late.” I have included the lyrics to show you the amazing relevance.
“Guess it’s over, call it a day
Sorry that it had to end this way
No reason to pretend
We knew it had to end some day, this way
Yes, it’s over, the kids are gone
What’s the use of trying to hang on
Somewhere we lost the key
So little left for you and me
And it’s clear to see
Too much, too little
Too late to lie again with you
Too much, too little
Too late to try again with you
We’re in the middle of ending
Something that we knew
Was over
Oh, it was over
Too much, too little,
Too late to ever try again
Too much, too little
Too late, let’s end it being friends
Too much, too little
Too late, we knew it had to end
And, it’s over
It’s over
Yes, it’s over, the chips are down
Nearly all our bridges tumbled down
Whatever chance we try
Let’s face it widened eye
It’s over”