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Mash 2025

Feb 23, 2025 Editorial, News

Editorial…

Kaieteur News– Fifty-five years as a Republic.  Close to fifty-five annual celebrations of Guyana’s own national holiday, Mashramani ( Mash), with allowance made for the restraints imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.  Through the long period of national poverty, and now the creep of national prosperity, the mass of Guyana’s population has celebrated their own special day with beating their drums, tramping behind floats, and hoisting a glass in toasts to the nation.  But should those be all there is to the national mood and national joy on Mash Day?

For 50 of the 55 years that it has been a Republic, Guyana’s name counted for nothing, Guyana’s people represented nothing but swarms of cheap labour in several parts of the world.  Today, nobody thinks of African Ghana when Guyana is part of a discussion.  More and more, locals and foreigners try their best to minimize, or cover down, the name Jim Jones, and the holocaust that he set in motion here.  Today, there is optimism and rosy expectations in ruling political circles and their business confederates.  The mentality of both groups is that in providing a few cheap jobs to those who want to have one, that’s all that is necessary.  Hard reality couldn’t be farther from that conclusion, because today Guyanese know that great riches have been found, and some of it should be shared with them.  They want to be in a position to do more for themselves (and their neighbourhoods) than beat their Mash drums, walk and chant behind their colourful floats, while enjoying the company of good Demerara Rum.

After living through the experience of their parents and grandparents fighting a daily battle with poverty’s constraints, the mass of Guyanese wants better for themselves.  They sense that that time is now, except that it has not been so.  They should be living it up with a real Mash celebration, because they have the best reason of all: money in their pockets, except it has not been so.  Money in hand, after all their needs and bills have been dealt with, no longer hangs over their heads like a hammer.  That kind of money has not been coming into their hands, despite increasing daily oil production here, and oil prices remaining high.  Singly or in aggregate, these do not make for the kind of spirit that should saturate Mash celebrations, its native rejoicings.

Leaders are happy with themselves to dole out pittances to mostly desperate citizens in one of the most talked about oil country in the world.  These same leaders know that Guyana can and must get more, but they cannot overcome their fear, their slave mentality, when dealing with the powers at ExxonMobil.  Opportunities come and go in the expanding oil sector, without the PPP/C Government lifting one finger to change the 2016 ExxonMobil oil contract that they used to condemn in the worst terms.  Today, now that these same local leaders are in the driver’s seat, they get lead feet when renegotiation of that revolting oil contract is called for by more and more Guyanese.

Guyanese know what they are not getting, how much they are missing, from their oil.  It casts a pall on their Mash energy, no matter the loud noises, the streams of human movement, and the hollow chatter of national leaders.  Because leaders in both the government and the opposition have lost their backbones, they have become the best of dancers around calls for renegotiation of the nationally embarrassing ExxonMobil oil contract.  When leaders lose courage, abandon the interests of Guyana, the poor in the population are among the worst of losers.  They should be enjoying Mash every day, with Christmas thrown in as extra.  Neither is happening, and that is the shabby reality behind the Mash fanfares, due to leaders failing Guyanese.  When leaders should be stepping up with power over the people’s patrimony, they are so shameless as not to mind looking impotent.

When the big speeches of the leading political voices are done today, Guyanese are still where they are.  Many hungry and unhappy, which is a bitter irony, considering that Guyanese number among the richest worldwide.  Mash can be better, but only if Guyanese commit to making it so.

(Mash 2025)

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