There appeared to be deliberate exclusion of Eusi Kwayana’s contribution as a Parliamentarian

Dear Editor,

I was invited and duly attended a reception to commemorate the 70th Anniversary of an Elected Assembly of the Cooperative republic of Guyana on Thursday, May 18, 2023  at Public Buildings.

Allow me to thank the Organisers for their kind and generous invitation. However, the event seemed to be yet another inglorious step by the current PPP Administration to mangle and manipulate our history and in the process ignore the contribution of persons who are part of Guyana’s history.

It was clear to me that there existed a dangerous demonic puppeteer pulling the strings to fool and brainwash unsuspecting middle aged and young Guyanese.

I left Parliament Compound sick and saddened. I refer below to some of the things I found sickening.

Present were the Speaker, Manzoor Nazir, Gail Texeiria, responsible for Parliamentary Affairs and other top brass of the ruling establishment.

There appeared to be a deliberate exclusion of Eusi Kwayana even though he was one of the six Ministers and to the best of my knowledge, only one of the two still surviving elected members of the House of Assembly 1953.

The first local speaker is Sir Eustace Gordon Woolford

This fits neatly into the extant pattern of dismissing persons who dare to write the truth critical of the machinations of the PPP Administration.

To honour Ashton Chase, is  a right and proper thing but to exclude   Eusi Kawayana ( 1953 known as Sidney King and later courageously abandoned his slave name and is now known as a Eusi Kawayana) is unacceptable and requires some explanation..

After the Waddington Constitution which allowed ordinary folks to vote for the first time, in spite of the hype and propaganda of the ultra right, the PPP triumphed.

As an activist I was present at the Public Buildings when the PPP legislators, all immaculately attired in white and led with six Ministers majestically through the gates of Parliament. The group was led by Cheddi Jagan, leader of the Parliamentary group and Forbes Burnham, Chairman of the PPP. Of the six Ministers, Forbes Burnham, Cheddi Jagan, Dr. J.P. Latchmansingh, Lawyer Jia Narine Singh, the only two in their late 90s alive today are Ashton Chase and Eusi Kawayana.

On what basis Kwayana’s name was not once mentioned at this event requires some truthful explanation, i.e. assuming the truth is something this administration either understands or believes in.

Thursday should have been an opportunity for drum rolls to honour those twenty four (24) persons who broke the barrier that was ostensibly celebrated. Apart from six Ministers, they were followed by the first females entered the Parliament nChambers of our country. The three (3) ladies Js – Jessie Burnham, Janet Jagan and Jane Phillips Gay were the first females to enter Parliament.

The members were  W.A. Phang – Independent, T.S. Weiting – Independent, Theophilus Lee – Independent, Eugene Francis Correia – NDP, Fred Bowman – PPP, C.A. Carter – Independent, C. R. Wong – PPP, F.O Van Sertima – PPP, Ramkarran – PPP, C.S. Persaud – PPP, S. Latchmansingh – PPP. William Oscar Rudyard Kendall – NDP, Ajodha Singh – PPP, R.S. Hanoman Singh – PPP and Mohamed Khan – PPP.

One would have thought that an opportunity would have been taken to honour these pioneers and to the best of my knowledge the only two alive are Ashton Chase and Eusi Kwayana and also to remind the Guyanese that the Ministerial system was first introduced on that memorable day in 1953.

I weep for the expunging of the name of an honourable Patriot, Eusi Kwayana at that event.

The first Speaker was Sir. Eustace Gordon Woolford and Woolford Avenue is named in his honour.

Second, The Order of Precedence was turned upside down causing us to be the laughing stock of our erstwhile masters and those who know better.

Thirdly, Oscar Clarke who performed the duties admirably as Speaker and insisted that Dr. Jagan apologise after he dashed the law books to the ground was not invited. I believe that this may have earned the displeasure of the puppeteers and hence Clarke was not invited

Dear Editor, I write this letter to state that it is crystal clear that the PPP is travelling the royal road of unilateral behaviour and while prattling about democracy and this ploy of One Guyana, has demonstrated an intolerance to respect the Judiciary, the Parliament and the sanctity and significance of the media referred to as the fourth estate and they are hell-bent on destroying persons and institutions that they cannot manipulate and control.

I am copying this letter to the Speaker Manzoor Nadir and Ms. Texira for their comments and response.

Yours truly,

Hamilton Green

Elder