Poor Memory. No Position. No Dignity

Dec 20, 2023 Letters

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Dear Editor,

Freddie Kissoon’s (Sunday Dec 17) “The PNC’s politics is becoming more than self-destructive”  is a rib-tickler. The self-proclaimed historian, political activist/analyst and philosopher seems bereft of memory. He has no definitive and perdurable position on issues, and thus is a mere ‘school boy’ adrift on his whims and fancies. I intend in this missive to show how devoid of substance this man is as well as his writings; it is from one extreme to another. He is truly a prime case for an eponymous addition to the dictionary, say like ‘freddipendulesque/lar.’

In the Dec 17 frivolity, He wrote that “I will discuss (emotionally outburst really)) two recent ‘political mistakes’ of the People’s National Congress (PNC) that are basic faults that should not have occurred in the first place.” Like, this charlatan is living in oblivion. I want to know what he will say of the following, as I have no interest in his purported ‘political mistakes’ of the PNC, his erstwhile Yahweh.

Editor, on June 11, 2008, in “Is the PPP trying to provoke ‘mo fyaah’?”, he was emphatic, saying that “… Mr. Jagdeo’s presidency has been a victim of relentless pursuit. The Lusignan mini-holocaust egregiously stands out as a pathological aberration in the history of this country exceeding any atrocity that occurred in Mackenzie in the sixties … My feeling is that the Government (PPP/C) wants to obfuscate the details that would come out of Roger Khan’s trial. In addition, nothing is going good for the Jagdeo presidency- food prices nightmare, gasoline nightmare, electricity nightmare (by the way, has anything changed?)”

He went on, detailing that “The PPP/C Government is moving from one outlandish act of dictatorship to another in the hope that these unjust policies will provoke “mo fyaah.” (so that ) It can then tell its supporters and the world that the PNC is up to its old tricks-that the PNC will stop at nothing to overthrow the PPP.”

My Question: “Has anything changed for the better? For sure, things have gotten far worse. Just peruse the revelations of the recent audits and ruminate on what ExxonMobil is allowed to ‘run riot’ with. I would love Freddie to revisit the egregious, outlandish, obsessive attacks he made on the People’s Progressive Party/Civic, Cheddie and Janet Jagan, Bharrat Jagdeo, Donald Ramaotar, and Irfaan Ali, during the 1992-2015 era. He needs to admit he is no analyst, or simply apologize publicly (as personal mendicancy cannot suffice).

I mean ‘only now’ is he seeing and saying things anti APNU/AFC/PNC? Ludicrous!

Then, concerning the video footage/evidence, Freddie said that “It is political mediocrity of the worst kind to attribute an unpatriotic action to a senior government minister over such a sensitive issue like a threat of invasion by Venezuela …  you have the evidence, but you refuse to make it available. That is self-destructive politics.” Editor, Freddie, on many occasions, will say ‘he was told’ but asked not to reveal. That is his style really. So, he must redress his own fallacies first. Then on the issue of ‘unpatriotic’ I ask that we revisit “PPP/C gov’t considered maritime channel for Venezuela to end controversy-Jagdeo.” (Stabroek News October 24, 2015). That was when “Former president Bharrat Jagdeo said that his PPP/C government had explored the option of granting Venezuela a channel through Guyana’s Atlantic waters as a means of settling the long-running border controversy, which escalated in May this year (going back to 2015).” As many will recall, Jagdeo, in a most exhortative manner, actually “… raised concerns about whether the Granger administration’s strategy for a juridical settlement of the controversy was the best option or even available.

At that Juncture, Jagdeo did say that “…he is not sure that its decision to approach the United Nations (UN) for a juridical settlement is within that organisation’s ambit… “My understanding is that ‘no’; it is not available… that is my understanding but I would like to find out. I am hoping that I am wrong.” The article went on and explained that “Jagdeo, who was president from 1999 to 2011, stated that the border controversy was a sensitive issue and that he did not want to detail to the public much on it because he believes that since the opposition and government are united on this front, they should first discuss it before public briefings.” But “He stated that during the PPP/C’s tenure in government there was continuous analysis on the controversy and the government had been weighing five possible solutions … “There was one view that you could, probably on the maritime area, give Venezuela a channel out to the sea. So, you make a slight concession in the maritime area but make sure that you do not concede any territory that is land-based because the maritime boundaries are still yet to be determined.”

Finally, Editor, concerning Freddie Kissoon’s ongoing pre-1992 faecal daub on the PPP/C, I call on readers to go through “Statistics and names of ethnic cleansing during the PPP’s reign.” Freddie ended that article by stating, unambiguously too’ that “What you have read here is just the tip of the iceberg of ‘ethnic cleansing’ under the PPP, starting with Cheddi Jagan but it was under Jagdeo and Ramotar that ethnic demonization of African Guyanese became official policy. Yes! I stand by the word, “official.”

Here was his evidence, a mere ‘tip of the iceberg’ sample.

Mark Benschop was charged for treason; Oliver Hickson was charged for sedition and refused bail; A young mother, Carol-Ann Munroe, and her army husband, Bruce, were charged for treason, along with a family friend, Leonard Wharton. All five named here were African Guyanese.

An Indian, Chabilall Ramsarup (who at the time had no previous experience with Customs and Excise details)  was put in charge of Trade and Customs Administration of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) over Ingrid Griffith, a senior GRA official, who once acted in that position; The Jagdeo cabal refused to confirm Genevieve Whyte-Nedd as Chief Education Officer, thereby diminishing her pension entitlement; A Ms. Smith was denied her right to be promoted (yet) at the same time, in the Ministry of Education, Ms. Bibi Ally, ‘mother’ of Minister Irfan Ally, was promoted to Deputy Education Officer for Development, and Mrs. Manickchand (Priya’s mother) was promoted to Placement Officer for Secondary Schools. Freddie delineated that “ … at the time, the job was held by an African Guyanese, Mary Luke. Smith, Whyte-Need and Luke were not promoted but Ally and Manickchand were.” It was as though, Freddie Kissoon’s hobby and inexorable passion was to besmirch and satanize the PPP/C. And he did, as many are still using him as their ‘source man’ when it comes to ‘exposing’ and ‘shaming’ the PPP/C.

Here is another excerpt:

“When researcher Lyris Primi was investigating ethnic preference in the awarding of scholarships in the Public Service that favoured Indian, she was met by a stonewall at the Public Service Ministry, which refused to release data to her. She completed her study without the statistics from the Ministry.” However, “ … between 2007 and 2010, 47 employees were dismissed from GWI and only one was Indian, the Internal Auditor.

Details: “It revealed that in that year, the number of special contract workers for the all the Ministries and ten Regions were 3,312. Of that number 82 percent were Indians.”

I rest my case. The gist is that there is no way that Freddie Kissoon can ‘balance the scale.’ The damage he inflicted on the PPP/C, and the hatred he incurred therein (that is following him) cannot be erased from the records. If anyone wants to stay away from the PPP/C, just go to the archivers at Kaieteur News and read Freddie’s wrath over the PPP/C. At best Freddie Kissoon, in castigating the Opposition and servilely deifying the PPP/C now comes over as comical, shallow, superfluous, and simply stupid. Someone should get on the ‘Freddie/Gildharie’ show and bring his anti-PPP rhetoric and ask him to apologize on his knees and promise to stay ‘shut up.’

Yours truly,

Prescott Mann

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• Bharrat Jagdeo, Cheddie and Janet Jagan, Donald Ramaotar, Irfaan Ali, People’s Progressive Party Civic, Prescott Mann

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