Prayer and protest

Oct 19, 2026 Letters

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Dear Editor,

I will be organising a peaceful protest action called ‘Prayer and Protest: African Guyanese Are Not Going Back into Slavery – We Want to Organise Our Ancestral Lands in Peace’. The action will be for seven days on October 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 26 and 27, 2026, from 11:00 to 13:00 hours (From 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.), and is specifically focused on the Attorney General, Anil Nandall’s uneven or downright discriminatory approaches to legal matters, the application of the laws and application of provisions in the constitution towards African Guyanese and their ancestral lands. African Guyanese ancestral land is a pathway from poverty to prosperity, and they must be allowed to organise their ancestral lands for their growth and development.

The action is intended to indicate to the government that enough is enough. If the attorney general is allowed by the government to be prejudiced and discriminatory in the application of the laws and to violate the constitutional rights of African Guyanese in such blatant and open ways, and so consistently, it is difficult to distinguished whether the attorney general in his own right is prejudiced and discriminatory towards African Guyanese or whether he is carrying out an accepted behaviour or policy of the government.

The time has come for us to come out from the pews of our churches and declare in the streets John 8:36 ‘If the Son [Jesus Christ] therefore make you free, ye shall be free indeed’. African Guyanese have not been free for a long time in Guyana, and I have had enough, really, had enough! It is also hoped that this action will attract the attention of the international community in Guyana, especially the United States of America, Canada, United Kingdom, the European Union and the United Nations.

Based on my observations and experiences, the current Attorney General, Anil Nandall, advances a form of oppression against African Guyanese, sometimes directly and at other times, indirectly. The Ministry of Legal Affairs and Attorney General’s Chambers exists to ensure that proper legal services are provided to the Government of Guyana, as well as statutory services to the public. Also, the Ministry of Legal Affairs (MoLA) provides legal advice and representation to the Government of Guyana, oversees the drafting of legislation and administers statutory legal services to the public. It operates through the attorney general’s chambers and ensures that government policies and programmes are supported by sound legal advice and legislation.

The ministry drafts and reviews laws, represents the state in legal proceedings, manages public legal records and registries, etc. It supports the development, interpretation and enforcement of the country’s legal framework and plays a key role in strengthening the rule of law, governance and access to legal information in Guyana. Therefore, this is a key institution to ensure that a system of oppression is not enabled, nurtured and practiced against African Guyanese and that particular groups are not discriminated against whether overtly or covertly.

I will also share a specific land matter, involving ancestral land in which the attorney general is being uneven in applying the law and blatantly ignoring provisions in the constitution so as to deprive African Guyanese of their ancestral land.

A part of the oppressive strategy is to keep African Guyanese in a continuous place of confusion, and state actors like the attorney general are using their power, authority and influence to create disorder within black communities, but we have to fight back, we have to fight for more economic, and social stability in the African Guyanese community and family.

As such, the actions will take place as follows:

Monday 19^th October, 2026, we will meet on Carmichael Street, on the pavement in front of the Ministry of Legal Affairs and the Attorney General Chambers from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Tuesday 20^th October, 2026, we will meet opposite the United States Embassy on Young Street, Georgetown from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Wednesday 21^st October, 2026, we will meet opposite the Office of the President in Vlissengen Road, on the parapet on the Eastern side, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Thursday 22^nd October, 2026, we will meet opposite the Canadian High Commission on Young Street, Georgetown from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Friday 23^rd October, 2026, we will meet on Main Street, on the pavement in front of the British High Commission from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Monday 26^th October, 2026, we will meet on the Eastern side of Sendall Place, Stabroek, Georgetown in from of the Delegation of the European Union from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Tuesday 27^th October, 2026, we will meet again on Carmichael Street, on the pavement in front of the Ministry of Legal Affairs and the Attorney General Chambers from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Some messages for the placards are below:

This is a Prayer and a Protest!

African Guyanese Are Not Going Back into Slavery – We want to Organise Our Ancestral Lands in Peace!

We want to organise and modernise our ancestral lands and villages in peace, without the Attorney General fighting us down!

Mr. Attorney General, African Guyanese are not going back into slavery! Stop fighting us down for our ancestral lands!

Guyana does not have a transport for Essequibo, so why is the Attorney General and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) asking African Guyanese for transports for their ancestral lands?

Article 20 of the Constitution states that the right to our inheritance is guaranteed, not that African Guyanese need a transport for their ancestral lands!

If you are fed up of being discriminated against as African Guyanese, would like to enjoy the freedom to organise and modernise your ancestral lands as African Guyanese, support that African Guyanese should be able to enjoy the rights and freedoms enshrined in the Guyana Constitution, or believe that all Guyanese deserve to be treated as equals, you are welcome to join us.

There was a time when we were better than this!

Yours faithfully,

Audreyanna Thomas

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• African Guyanese, Audreyanna Thomas, Letters, Prayer and Protest, protest

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