Guyana now the land of doubt, cynicism, skepticism

Apr 07, 2026 Features / Columnists, The GHK Lall Column

---

(Kaieteur News) – Ever hear about Doubting Thomas?  Those who didn’t should consult with their Bibles.  Guyana has tons of Doubting Thomases and should be in the Guiness Book of World Records three times.  Once as a land trapped in endless doubt.  Twice, as a country warped by chronic skepticism.  Thrice, as a place now choking on cynicism.  And, for good measure, a nation that, fourth, disbelieves even what it believes, has no use for the credible.

When governments and leaders live a lie, an endless series of them, that cascades down to the lower, smaller people.  Deceiving becomes culture, then national religion.  Promise everything that could be thought of, found pleasing by listeners, deliver nothing.  When allowed to get away with that, do it again.  For those who make such a living, it’s a good one.  Allow me to pull up the files, in no particular order.

Under fire Opposition Leader, and premier extradition exhibition, Mr. Azruddin Mohamed, is felled by dengue fever, granted sick leave.  Can’t attend court.  Trouble.  Means he can’t report to the police, pursuant to court orders as a condition of his freedom.  More trouble.  His medical is questioned.  His doctor is probed.  His lab visit is scrutinized.  Is this not the same citizen, which neither systems nor protocols nor radars could have detected for years?  Can Pres. Ali or Attorney General Nandlall weigh-in on those times, shed some light?  What was going on then?  What is happening now?  His police reporting blotter is under the microscope, with a scrutineer unavailable to answer questions in court.  A senior Foreign Affairs public servant’s correspondence log has prompted polite enquiries about chronology, and if some entries are after the fact.  In other words, a large circle forced into a smaller square.  Doubt, doubts, and more doubts.

Before the man affectionately known as Mo, there were more damaging doubts.  The police again, then autopsy results.  Autopsy results have been the runaway winner for skepticism and acute cynicism.  Due to the odors emanating, Pres Ali again is in the hot spot: since there is such powerful talk about transparency and accountability, why is it that even autopsy results are torn up and thrown in the toilet?  From Cotton Tree, West Coast Berbice (Henry youngsters) to Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo (Adriana Younge), the doubts simply takeoff on a trajectory of their own, never to come back down to earth.  Is it the government that is mucking up matters so badly?  Or is it the people (critics and skeptics) that are so wrong?  Who has it right in this country?  Is this a country?  More questions are now published.

Have elections to run in Guyana?  Call in Interpol (EU), the FBI (Americans) and the RCMP (Canadians) to help get the job done in some fashion.  Know any Guyanese, from the president at the top to the street crawlers at the bottom, who can say elections are credible, and they are believed?  Worse yet, they were won fair and square, and that’s universally accepted?  It is either that Guyana is a sad state or a sick one.

Doubt, bias, prejudice, partiality, all breed skepticism, and with only one dockyard left: cynicism.  Which Guyanese believes that their premier elections entity, GECOM, is clean and true to its calling?  Or their national police apparatus is a model of professionalism and standards?  Or their Oil Fund oversight is with sound minds, in safe hands?  When some leaders are the epitome of the untrustworthy, then who is there to give the precious trust left?  There is parliament, and some Guyanese view the Speaker as a paragon of something (whatever that is).  Others take a contrasting position (however described).  Who has hit the nail on the head, and who took a blow to the head, out for a golden duck?

Here is a question that qualifies as profound: when Guyanese are unable or unready see the credible in anything, what is there that remains to be believed?  The judgements of courts are doubted.  Then, an approved medical practitioner is pricked and probed without anesthetic.  Next a preliminary report on a national census is doused in caustic soda.  Over and again, the list lengthens.  Chronic doubt.  Acute skepticism.  Pathological cynicism.  Sorry, everybody.  It’s either Guyana is in a bad place, or it is a very bad place. 

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

---

• cynicism, doubt, Doubting Thomas, GHK Lall, skepticism

---