By GHK Lall – I note with delight that Guyana’s President Mohamed Irfaan Ali is displaying a keener religious orientation in recent weeks. Two weeks ago, found him at the Ogle Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha mandir. It was a prayer moment, some bonding with devotees; has nothing to do with politics, I am assured. I am trying to recall when anything that politicians do has not a pinch of politics to it. Of course, there are exceptions, and even though it is Excellency Ali, I could bring myself to appreciate any exception. But then he did it again, this time on a very big day. On Palm Sunday 2025, who was spotted in the Roman Catholic Church of the Ascension in New Amsterdam, if not the unmissable figure of His Excellency, President Dr. Irfaan Ali. Two places of worship in the space of two weeks are a little too much for me to take. From Ogle to New Amsterdam; what happened to that grand one: Mohamed doesn’t go to the mountain; the mountain comes to Mohamed? One could be counted as random. Two such visits, on the other hand, mean that someone is trying make rings around Guyanese and me. The Guyanese part is okay; it is a different story with me. Something is up.
Something is up, when President Ali making sure for the proper camera effects (and gasps from the assembly) that he was accompanied by not one, not two, but three ministers from the PPP Government. Now that’s an entourage, a gallery of ministers. I am told that there were two miracles: the lights stayed on, and the air remained pure. If only I had known of the president and his illustrious party’s plans to visit a Roman Catholic parish, I would have arranged for the red carpet to be rolled out. Not the regular one, but one from scripture. There are several verses in the Bible that speak of “Thou shalt not…. Thou shalt not…” until one gets red in the face, and beats a sly retreat out of the backdoor of the church. Since I treat myself to those “Thou shalt not…reminders from time to time, I felt that I owed the same standard, and favor, to the invading party led by Commander-in-Chief Excellency Ali. Did President Ali just vanquish, with a wave of his hand, the separation between Church and State? If nobody in Ogle or New Amsterdam summoned the courage to tell the president, then I nominate myself. No politics in the house of God, sir. When I dare to talk about the poor and hungry and thirsty, just like the Palm Sunday man, Jesus, did, that is what some say to each other behind my back (no palatiks in de chuch). Oh Guyana, beautiful Guyana….
So, what’s up with the president physical hopping from one denominational house of worship to another? When the political eases its way into the realm of the spiritual too often for my liking, that’s when I straighten up, and ask: what’s really up? Elections are up in the air, that’s what. The previous much talked about razor sharp margin has been succeeded by no margin at all. One main party (the ruling) sees demons everywhere; another major one (hoping to rule) sees nothing at all. To compound matters, nobody has seen anything of it all. But there is Dr. Ali, all visible and palpable. To keep things on the level, and give him cover, he was sharp enough to walk with a Roman Catholic minister. I love it, a man with a little of my own thinking. He will manage to come up with the rest (thinking) in a couple of additional lifetimes.
President Ali barely had time for the poor and lowly in this society. Now there he is flitting from one prayer house to another. I must find out if he went down on his knees and confessed his, ah, lapses in judgment. And his excesses in rhetoric. And his artificial and superficial manner. Please note everybody that I did not even think of using the word hypocritical. The president may believe that he is coming over as one who means well, but I don’t think that even he himself knows what he means. I correct myself: he means that he is on the hunt for any little edge, on the move for any stray votes. I have been informed (reliable sources, what else?) that the polls say that there are droves upon droves of undecided and disgruntled Guyanese voters. Now there is a plausible reason for President Ali turning up at one spiritual sanctuary after another. The leader is not so much about prayer; he is more focused on proselytizing for votes. I call that stooping to conquer. Or, more appropriate to the circumstances, kneeling so the people get the feeling.
I am beginning to get worried. If this should continue, I could find myself locked out of the church. No space for an infidel like me, when the likes of the president and his barrage of operators are on the prowl for votes, and making religious houses one of their prime targets. The PNC and AFC are going to catch on, and it is going to get awfully crowded around prayer time. Look at what Guyana has come to in 2025: instead of the voice of God in his own house, there are voices for votes, and all those flashing camera bulbs and armed security men to disturb the profoundness of sacred spaces. It’s time I take up politics and beat Ali and company at their games.
