The People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), in a statement, has laid out a series of event to mark the centenary birth anniversary of its Founder Leader, Mr. Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham O.E, S.C. Burnham was born on 20th February 1923.
The party said there are a number of early landmarks in the life of Burnham that exemplified his emergent stellar and iconic personality as mentioned: in 1936, he won the Centenary Exhibition and Government Junior Scholarship; in 1937 he won the Percival Exhibition award; and in 1942, he won the British Guiana Scholarship, the highest scholastic award in the country, at that time.
“Recognition of his leadership potential was evident in his emergence as President of the West Indian Student`s Union, in London in 1947; his ascendancy as co-founder and first Chairman of the People`s Progressive Party, in 1949; and Founder of the People’s National Congress. The realisation of his potential culminated in national leadership and international recognition as the first Prime Minister of independent Guyana, and the first Executive President of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana.”
The PNCR has announced the following activities to mark the occasion which will run from February 2023-2024:-
- Commemorative Church Service on the 19th February 2023 at the Trinity Methodist Church on High Street.
- In the afternoon (19th February 2023) there will be the annual commemorative Cycle Race –Home Stretch Avenue return – will be staged under the auspices of the Burnham Foundation and the Flying Star cycle club.
- The ceremonial inaugural activity will be hosted by the National Congress of Women (NCW) on Monday 20th February 2023, the actual day of the anniversary and will take the form a photographic and publications exhibition featuring the life and works of the Founder Leader of the Party, our Chaperon to Independence and Republicanism.
The public is invited to these opening events.
The party advises the Forbes Burnham Centennial Committee, chaired by the Forbes Burnham Foundation and manned by representatives drawn from the Party and its arms (GYSM and NCW), along with sub-committees comprised of volunteers is responsible for the year of activities which will include: sporting events, symposia, exhibitions, debating competition, cultural activities, a gala banquet, regional commemorative activities and memorial activities in August.
“The centennial birth anniversary of Forbes Burnham comes at a time when, more than ever, the country needs to embrace the virtues that made him a great man and leader: his transformative vision, his boldness to blaze new paths, his deep pride in the Guyanese nation, and his unending concern about the welfare of all Guyanese,” announced the party.
