Chancellor of the Judiciary and the syndrome: Maybe, maybe not

May 08, 2022 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

I was having breakfast with my wife on our upper verandah, one day in 2010, when I saw the workers from the Ministry of Public Works clearing the trench outside my home.
They started with my immediate neighbour to the west, then skipped my home and went to my immediate neighbour to the east. I murmured to my wife that something strange was going on. Why would they skip my home? My wife is a gentle soul who chided me for always having a wacky imagination.
I kept telling her what we were seeing was strange but she told me the people know what they are doing. It turned out they knew exactly what they were doing. They deliberately bypassed my house. It was the Freddie Kissoon syndrome on display. One day in 2017, I ran into the kitchen and told my wife the garbage truck drove away without picking up our waste.
I told her this had to be intentional because our bin was alongside my neighbour’s. My wife said it was perhaps a mistake. I was once introduced to the owner of Cevon’s Waste Management by Hamilton Green so I called him. I told him that I think it was not a mistake. It was the Freddie Kissoon thing. He did not agree so I asked that he send an official to see that it was impossible for them to have missed my bin. They were instructed to return. When they did, the driver ranted about my columns attacking Mr. Granger and he carried on and on. So it was indeed the Freddie Kissoon syndrome.
Mr. Chris Ram interviewed Khemraj Ramjattan. They looked back at when the AFC was in power and my name was part of a long discussion. I couldn’t see the relevance. A man I don’t know named Charles Sugrim interviewed PNC leader, Aubrey Norton and Sharma Solomon on Globe-Span and I became the subject of a long discussion. Why me?
Last Sunday, I wrote about the possible Freddie Kissoon syndrome being a factor in the way my request at the GRA was turned down in 2019. Now here is a situation with the Chancellor of the Judiciary.
I would like to see a response from the Chancellor herself, the President, Attorney-General, Judicial Service Commission, Bar Association, the media and civil society. Here is a factual account of an action by the Chancellor involving me. Dr. Walter Ramsahoye sued me and Kaieteur News for libel based on a column in which I did not name him.
Dr. Ramsahoye, after suing, then went on a programme with C.N. Sharma on channel 6 named “Voice of the People.” Dr. Ramsahoye spent an hour with Mr. Sharma saying the nastiest things about me including that I am not qualified to teach at UG because I have no character. I am a fake academic. Dr. Ramsahoye exceeded the limits of libelous output. He even called me an ugly Blackman. And Mr. Sharma joined in.
I never sued anyone before. I don’t think I ever will but Ramsahoye was morally corrupt to sue me for an innocent column then, turned around and said scandalous things about me on television. I countersued Ramsahoye naming Sharma as the second defendant.
Both cases were heard at the same time. In Ramsahoye’s writ, the judge was Justice Dawn Gregory-Barnes. Across the High Court in another building, in my writ, the judge was Chief Justice, Madam Yonette Cummings-Edwards. As I reported three times in these columns, the newspaper’s policy is not to provide counsel for me. I had to get my own lawyer. Attorney Shaunella Glen offered free services in both cases.
Both cases concluded around the same time. Justice Gregory-Barnes ruled for Ramsahoye and fined me and the paper $2 million. Six years have gone by and I never got a decision in my court case with Justice Cummings-Edwards. I don’t know if I won or lost. I don’t know what points in my case could be used in Guyana’s jurisprudence.
I guess after six years, the decision is dead. I asked myself several times over the six years that I have contacted Ms. Glen about the decision if it was the Freddie Kissoon syndrome. Two citizens were in court at the same time fighting a legal battle over a particular publication in the newspaper.
Both cases were completed. One person was heard and awarded. The other never got a decision. Mr. Sharma did not contest my writ so I should have had judgment against him. I would have given the money to charity. Would this have happened to citizens with wealth, power and status? Am I a lesser human? I am being singled out? Was the non-decision an unfortunate mistake? Was it the Freddie Kissoon syndrome? Maybe, maybe not.
(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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