Cheddi Jagan the man I know

Mar 19, 2024 Letters

Dear Editor,

I worked the day shift with former President Cheddi Jagan where he would normally go to his office to see people with appointments but as we settled in his car and was on the move he said to me and the driver comrade we have to make a short stop to see my doctor.

His visit didn’t last too long for a normal heart check-up as I sat there and looked at his doctor tending to him then they both chatted a little and we left for the Office of the President and all seemed fine, then a few days after as I finished my shift another bodyguard called and said, hey yuh hear wah happen just now, I said no and he said the President was rushed to the hospital and it looks like he got a heart attack.

In those days information was not like nowadays we had to depend on the newspapers and radio and TV but through the grapevine we would hear that someone contacted the U.S embassy and that they would fly him to America. I was very surprised as to why they made that decision and since Jagan was a communist he should have been sent to Cuba we were always told that the Cubans have the best doctors and medicine.

President Castro would have welcomed Jagan with open arms, but before all this there was a cyanide spill by Omai Gold Mines that polluted the mighty Essequibo River and Jagan was furious he lambasted Omai and he pressed for compensation but the company packed up quietly and left. Those that were affected were given a few black water tanks to catch rainwater and as we travelled along the Essequibo River with him and Doctor Jennifer Westford and a delegation we could have seen the sadness in Jagan.

Cheddi Jagan was very kind to us bodyguards, he would make sure we eat, ask where we came from. I remember the long nights at Freedom House where Jagan would hold lengthy meetings with his ministers and as soon as those meetings finished he would have us collect the food and take it to State House and share it amongst ourselves. He loved his grandchildren and would not only take them to the pool but would also send a car to pick up some ministers’ children to swim.

At the Office of the President the close-man and a few bodyguards had to cut out articles that were written by people in the letter columns of the respective daily newspapers about things that are of concern to people in the country, e.g. broken water main on the East Coast Demerara, police harassment in Berbice, etc. These clippings were put in a file so that this would be given Jagan detailed knowledge of what is happening in and around the country. We also had to reuse envelopes, these envelopes were used to send internal documents within the ministries, in the afternoons we would walk around the National Park and sometimes around Kingston and nearby areas to sell the Mirror newspapers.

I remember the disturbances in 1992, the Herdmanston Accord, the frequent picketing exercises and sometimes Joey would lecture us on politics at State House and on some weekends we would go to New Haven in Bel Air at the Jagan’s residence where he would tend to his sheep, dogs and chickens, in the nights. We had to massage the President, I saw different types of electronic massaging machines in his room but he never wanted us to use them we had to do it by hand.

I remember he had something called this week with the President where he would address the media. I never saw him angry but he and Enrico Woolford had a little exchange of words once. He would also give us blank tapes to put in the tape recorder to record, Radio Deutchvella broadcasting from Germany with the latest news, London Calling. Then we heard the sad news Cheddi Jagan has died in Walter Reed Memorial Hospital and he would be brought to Guyana.

When I looked at his body at State House and saw the crowd in line every day I said Guyana has indeed lost a great soul.

Sincerely,

Mr. S. Harald

Former bodyguard and closeman to former President Jagan

Cheddi Jagan, comrade, former, Mr. S. Harald, President

Latest News