– says AG remarks provocative to Afro-Guyanese
Lincoln Lewis on behalf of the heirs of former slave Cudjoe McPherson has accused Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall of promoting ethnic violence and race baiting in Kingelly, West Coast Berbice and has filed a complaint with the Ethnic Relations Commission against the minister.
“Listen wuh meh ah tell yuh, if Lincoln Lewis interferes with your operation…your occupation, break down whatever physical structure he has,” Nandlall told residents last week.
In his letter of complaint to the ERC Lewis said that McPherson’s heirs feel that their lives and economic security are under threat. He reference that on Saturday, 22nd August 2020, the Attorney General held a meeting with residents of Kingelly and advised them to break down the fence being erected on the lands belonging to Cudjoe McPherson, who as per Transport No. 4246 dated July 1851 is the owner. Lewis said property has never been out of the possession of Cudjoe McPherson, save and except a few pieces occupied by various means. “In the effort of the heirs to occupy the lands, the Attorney General has instructed a group of East Indians occupying the land and seeking further extension of their occupancy to break down the fence erected by the lawful owners (heirs of Cudjoe McPherson),” Lewis wrote in his complaint to the ERC.
He told the body that shortly after the Attorney General’s unlawful directive, those who were given permission by the family to occupy land, those who squatted on the lands, and those who desire to squat on the lands commenced the unlawful act of breaking the fence, security lights and “No Trespassing” signs. “Apart from the breakage, the increased aggressiveness is manifested in frequent confrontations of an East Indian group, fueled by the Attorney General’s words to provoke an African group,” Lewis complained. He said the Attorney General’s language has the potential to incite further violence and physical harm. ”We therefore bring this case before you as a matter of urgency to preserve the peace.”
Lewis in an earlier opinion piece in this publication had noted that Nandlall the principal custodian of the Constitution and Laws of Guyana- is engaging in is a clear act to stoke violence. “This government is using people, some innocent and some willing, to carry out a devious agenda. The false claim by the Attorney General that Cudjoe’s lands are State lands and the PPP will give the interlopers the lands is to encourage them to feel entitled to something they know in their hearts they are not entitled to but with political power they can seize ownership of.”
Lewis noted that the Attorney General knows very well that Cudjoe’s descendants will not give up those lands, but this is part of a wider political agenda that is seeing a Black attack, giving rise to concern. “I feel that this government is threatening. I feel if I do not succumb to their bullying and grabalicous tactics to take what does not belong to them and what rightfully belong to the heirs of Cudjoe they are setting to stage an act to lock me up or kill me,” Lewis charged.
“We have seen the sign of a planned racial violence with that young Indian man sharpening his cutlass and walking round and round me in a menacing manner as I was going about my business in fencing the land. Another instance is Sadhu, a known PPP representative, who lives in Kingelly. While I was standing on the dam, he came up to me, put his hand in my face in a menacing and proactive manner, cursing my deceased mother, grandfather and uncles. He was hoping I would have retaliated rather than step back, smile and reminded him who the lands belong to. I note that he has not been charged for assault or using abusive language in as much as the police is in receipt of a tape with him on full display.”
Lewis said Sadhu, who is originally from Plantation Ross, West Coast Berbice, came to Kingelly and lives on the spot he currently occupies, which is Cudjoe’s land. His initial presence on this land was due to the generosity of my family who allowed him occupancy. Whereas today he may have been able to acquire prescriptive rights or under the land law could be so entitled, I cannot help but note the saying, ‘sorry fuh magga dawg magga dawg tun round bite yuh.’
“The PPP/C government is using African ancestral lands in Kingelly to create a race riot. The government is preparing the ground for violence, to lock me up or have me assassinated. The entire north of Kingelly public road which by transport dated July 1851 is in the name of my great-great-great-great grandfather Cudjoe McPherson. He bought those lands which to this day they remain in his name and the rightful heirs are his descendants. I put the Attorney General and land grabbers on notice- if they set out to have my blood on their hands it would not end there.”
