Vindya and Mohabir

Aug 18, 2024 Features / Columnists, The GHK Lall Column

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Hard Truths by GHK Lall

Kaieteur News – I read with interest political observer and pollster Dr. Vishnu Bisram’s take on the cancer of corruption in Guyana. Close attention was paid to his singling out of Minister Dr. Vindya Persaud and Attorney General Anil Nandlall as running clean houses through bold leadership with their respective portfolios. I am intrigued. I usually make it my duty to speak brightly of the Social Security lady.

On occasion, there have been departures over which I have tried to deliver calmly. Still, she is close to me, so some more should be said about her. In the instance of the man of law who has turned out to be a man of straw, I don’t think he has much use for the likes of me. Still, the challenge within is to keep traveling along the road chosen and let the works delivered speak their own language. This is one such offering laid at the feet of Guyanese, which includes Mr. Mohabir and Ms. Vindya.

Bolstered by the knowledge that both ministers in the PPP Government, luminaries with a special gleam so necessary in this country according to Dr. Bisram, are Hindus of the first order, I beg tolerance for a little segue into my own spiritual realm. From my own Holy Books (not written by me), the command is to “wash feet.”

For the edification of both PPP stalwarts (and others) the first time that surfaced the first reaction was, say what? Whoever is asking me to do
that has got to be kidding! Humbling of self has since led to a meeting of the minds with the issuer of that charge to “wash feet.” This is the concept, context and the call to duty that I bring before Vindya and Mohabir.

To wash feet, one must be in an awkward position, very vulnerable. To a sharp elbow in the head, a knee to the nose, a hard kick in the teeth. So, when I call out with every conviction and fiber that the PPP, as government and as a national party of enduring history, has become the epitome of a vast national criminal enterprise, the kicks come from PPP Government operators.

For doing duty honestly to this nation, for obeying spiritual commands, for speaking hard truths about Guyana’s putrid political environment, elbows and knees rain from PPP corners, quarters, and executioners. It is my belief that those responsible share bosom relationships with President Ali and Vice President Jagdeo. Relationships that are so tight that their bedfellows fit well.

Further, I believe that they are well known to both Minister Persaud and Law and Justice Minister Nandlall. Now, if as Dr. Bisram has generously shared with us, they are about the incorruptible, where are they when such comrades are around? Why are they even around them, hobnobbing with them? How does Minister of Law Nandlall reconcile the lawlessness that flares and spirals from deep and high within his government with the dictates of the law, when different law-abiding citizens are attacked for one reason only? Law abiding citizens daring to speak the truth about corruption under PPP-governed Guyana. Financial corruption (sticky hands). Moral corruption (lecherous minds, predatory feet). Leadership corruption (blind eye, locked jaws).

Ministerial corruption (bloated bellies [pus accumulations]). Silence and pretense at ignorance, Justice Minister Nandlall knows better than most, are excuses that have no standing before the lawful. To borrow one of the cautions so kindly extended to Dr. Bisram as he unveils his anticorruption plank and push “be careful.” To give another from my own experience and with local chutney flash “dem ah watch yuh.” I should know because “dem ah watch me.”

As a quick aside, I give AG Nandlall some temporary space, and extend a good word to Top Cop Clifton Hicken. Thanks for the courtesy of the 24-hour attention, sir. Should anything happen to me, he would be the first to know. I must admit that the PPP does care, with proof prevalent; this is the side of Excellences Jagdeo and Ali that is endearing. Oh, and one more thing, Mr. Commissioner, if anybody were to drop some bags of money by me, he would immediately have all the evidence he needs.

Considering the above contexts, when Law Minister Nandlall is running a clean shop and cherishes incorruptibility, he cannot do disappearing acts. Not when statutes and standards are so cavalierly violated. Not when ordinances are so disdainfully trampled upon. Not when the rule of law itself and respect for it are both now savaged so gleefully, now both lost causes in PPP Guyana. When money is an irresistible magnet to the addicted in his party, when men and women are made into targets, where is the blind incorruptibility that should be in the Justice Ministry of Guyana? Whither the majesty of the law, Mohabir?

Regarding Minister Dr. Vindya, Dr Bisram spoke highly of her commitment to cleanliness in her corridors and courtyards. I concur, but possess insights worthy of a second look. Comparatively, Minister Persaud’s neck is above the fence. Her head shows, but a lot rests on her shoulders. She may shrug, but she can’t shake. This should help to clear the air: stay too close to dogs for too long and fleas stick to the skin. With Dr. Bisram having said so much good with the two names spotlighted, the default concern is what does this say about so many of the unsaid and unnamed. To take this to its natural end, and as he heard himself: “dem boys don’t like it and they will come after you.”

It is a natural offshoot of the cancerous, deep-seated, highflying, unimaginable corruption of the PPP Government. Corruption breeds more corruption. As AG Mohabir would say ad nauseum and ad infinitum. I, too, have something to say in Latin: fiat justitia ruat caelum (though the heavens may fall, let justice prevail). Its arc is unfailing.

(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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• Attorney General Anil Nandlall, hard truths, Hard Truths by GHK Lall, Minister Dr. Vindya Persaud, political observer

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