LFS Burnham was a visionary, but only for “slow development”

Feb 28, 2023 Letters

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Dear Editor,

I write with reference to Anette Ferguson’s article “Truth of Burnham’s visionary leadership must be told” (SN 26/2/2023). While I admire the loyalty of the Ms. Ferguson, I must also note that MP Ferguson’s relationship with the truth is obviously strained.

There are two strands of historiography that Ms. Ferguson could have relied on in fashioning her mea culpa for Burnham, namely historical presentism, or historical revisionism. While the former refers to a re-interpretation of history to suit current political circumstances, the latter is about a more comprehensive re-writing of the historical record with the intent of shifting the accepted historiography of a historical period, or in the case of Mr. Burnham, a person of historical significance. I am afraid the Honourable MP’s efforts cannot meet either of these techniques of historical reconstruction. The reason is that Ms. Ferguson’s account is based on what might be best described as an invented history, laced as it were with partial truths, half-truths, misrepresentations, and many statements that cannot be verified by any credible historical source.

Let us begin with the extraordinary claim by Ms. Ferguson that “…Burnham was indeed a gift from God who was birthed here in Guyana for a purpose” (Ibid). Well, allow me to provide evidence to contrary. Since Ms. Ferguson focuses so much on Burnham’s economic “accomplishments”, it is only fair I respond along those lines.

Note this – Guyana was the only country in the world that, during the 1980s, had a lower per capita GDP at the end of the decade, compared to the beginning of the decade! In 1980, the per capita GDP of Guyana was $775; by 1991, it had dropped to $468, a massive drop of 39.61%. Further, it took Burnham and then Hoyte from 1965 until 1991 to increase the per capita GDP of the Guyanese people by a measly $140. My guess is that if it weren’t for the UF in the early years, the performance would have been even worse.

By comparison, the PPP/C moved per capita GDP from an abysmal $608 in 1993, to a respectable $5668 by 2015, a staggering 832.23%, compared to the PNC’s miserable 42.68% over twenty-six years!

The Honourable Annette Ferguson offers gushing praise for Burnham’s contribution to the democratization of Guyana, an idea so far-fetched, that Burnham’s own words prove otherwise. For instance, in announcing the Sophia Declaration on the 14th December, 1974 at a Special Congress of the People’s National Congress, the Cde. Leader of the PNC made it clear that the government of Guyana is only an executive arm of the PNC. LFS Burnham put it thus – “…the Party [PNC] should assume unapologetically its paramountcy over the Government which is merely one of its executive arms.” (Declaration of Sophia).

Burnham went on to denigrate constitutions that have check and balances, stating that they are ‘inhibitions’ to good governance. Instead, he dictated that PNC party officials must occupy all central offices from Georgetown, right down to the regions. Local government should be an extension of the Party. He laid out a comprehensive plan where kids as young as fourteen years of age would be drafted into the PNC as part of what he stylised as “national mobilization”. The kids should be “educated” into the PNC ways of doing things.

Ms. Ferguson is full of praise of Burnham’s Feed, Clothes, and House (FCH) the Nation (by 1976). Guyanese who lived through the late 1970s and all of the 1980s can very well inform those who do not know, what became of FCH. Here is a synopsis. The Guyanese people came close to not only starvation because of shortage of food basics, but were pushed into a level of indignity due to other essentials of civilized life. The following items were short in supply, or absolutely non-existent – flour, cooking oil, onions, garlic, tomato paste, corned beef, corned mutton, split peas, chickpeas, milk powder, butter, cheese, baby food, sardines, toothpaste, toothbrush, bathing soap, washing soap, detergents, diapers, toilet paper, shaving equipment, electrical equipment, tools, textbooks, pencils, pens, and the list goes on and on. Readers should know that if you were caught with certain items like sardines or flour, you could – and many were, arrested by the police.

As for clothing the nation, here is a quote from the 1973 Budget Speech in Parliament – “The Government has already indicated that clothing the nation will be a task of slow development, mainly because the raw materials for achieving this are in short supply or as yet non-existent” (Budget 1973, p. 18).

Ms. Ferguson should note the construction “slow development”. That was a major PNC innovation.

The PNC government under Mr. Burnham created a slew of institutions that were decidedly authoritarian. The Youth Corps and the National Service were para-military organisations aimed at militarising political consciousness, beginning with children as young as eight years old. Allow me to quote from a PNC/government document called “Youth: A Destiny to Mold”. Here is a direct quote – “National Service, whose major objectives are the same as the Youth Corps, offers the opportunity to serve their country to all Guyanese eight years and older” (Ministry of Co-operatives and National Mobilisation, 1974, p. 40).

Many will recall the Knowledge Sharing Institutes (KSI). If you do not, they were places that sold government regulated groceries. Availability depended on a PNC Party card.

Member of Parliament Ferguson gushes about Burnham and education, so much so that she misrepresents who founded the University of Guyana. But more than that, she neglects to mention that National Service was a way to control who got into UG, and concomitantly, who got into senior positions in the civil service. UG itself became a bastion of a friends, families, and comrades.

God’s supposed gift to Guyana, Mr. Burnham (and through his legacy) saw the country record years of economic decline. GDP performance makes the case with hard evidence. Hence (1976) -9.13%; (1977) -2.02%; (1981)-5.63%; (1984) -10.29%; (1987) -29.29%; (1990 -7.54%; (1991) -11.76%.

Guyanese by the thousands poured out of the country during the Burnham years. Many endured heart-breaking hardships trying to abscond. Some paid with all their life-savings, others borrowed, and still others escaped from what then appeared to be a God-forsaken land, through means that will never be talked about. Editor, in closing it is only fitting that for Ms. Ferguson’s own edification I quote from the Cde. Leader himself. Said Mr. Burnham on December 14, 1974 – “Let us not…indulge in trumpet blowing and vacuous boasting” (Sophia Declaration).

Sincerely,

Dr. Randolph Persaud

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• Anette Ferguson, Dr. Randolph Persaud, Economic, Guyana, relationship

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