Never, ever, would the thought have come. Not relative to Guyana’s President Mohamed Irfaan Ali. Probably a great number of other Guyanese, but not Dr. Ali. Would any Guyanese still in possession of their senses-the right ones-ever harbor the thought that Pres. Ali has some resemblance to torturers straight out of the pages of the Dark Ages, then later Middle Ages. Someone else, perhaps; but not Dr. Ali. But why is he traveling dangerously near to that grim path, that reminds of dungeons and cruel forces, plus the tools they applied on captives, the helpless and hapless? It’s worth closer examination.
Oil is held aloft. Why not? Mention Guyana, and oil is mentioned in breathless torrents. So, when voices extol the glories of Guyana and its oil, there ought to be hands that hold money aloft also. It is where Pres. Ali should be, thankful that he has the role to deliver to the Guyanese people, and to enrich their lives, even if only for a week or two. But he is not doing so. Oil without benefit to the people is not oil at all, has no meaning whatsoever. Cash is a tangible, immediate benefit. PhD or no PhD, Dr. Ali knows as much. Roads have value, so also subsidies. But there is nothing like a dollar in the hand to make a man feel like the king of the world, and a woman the queen of her castle. Regardless of how humble their abode, circumstances.
Because of all this, which Irfaan Ali as citizen, as man, as national leader, knows, why then is he playing this cat-and-mouse game with the res. Guyanese people-real ones, poor ones, down-in-the-dirt ones-and subjects them to fading optimism, rapidly intensifying despair? In Pres. Ali, no Guyanese should see one reminiscent of a hostage taker, then a torturer, who uses his high position to take advantage of them, play with their minds?
First, there was going to be a cash grant, and not just one. Straight out of Pres. Ali’s mouth on the first day of this now almost over year. From early January to late in August, it was the short step that pushed Pres. Ali closer to the abyss. He was clever this time to add a qualifier. “If you behave yourself….” If the people behaved themselves and voted for the PPP, there will be good things coming. A cash grant. The money that belongs to the people, Pres. Ali held that as a ransom demand over the simple, submissive heads of Guyanese. Captive Guyanese not just in Eccles, but with echoes from there bouncing across 83,000 square miles. Guyanese being held to ransom by their own. Do this, and that will come. It was what the code words of “if you behave yourself meant….” Personally, it was a combination of a low quid pro quo and campaign financing turned on its head. Do something (vote PPP) for something (get cash grant).
In terms of the reverse campaign financing of Excellency Ali, I see it this way: donate vote to the PPP, and a bag full of cash would come the people’s way. It was the second time, by my count, that Pres. Ali made a firm commitment about cash grant(s) to Guyanese; except that he added that conditioner of a certain kind of behavior expected. Voting.
From the time that Dr. Ali held that sword over the heads of Guyanese, I found myself thinking that Guyana went back to medieval times. Whether so or not is beyond the scope of this effort. Nevertheless, this much can be said with conviction. The people heard Pres. Ali in August and did their part. The PPP is back in the corridors of power, and Irfaan Ali laughing all the way to State House. Respectfully, he has to fulfill his part of the bargain he made (if you behave). Even more respectfully, he hasn’t. Pres. Ali has toyed with Guyanese and tortured them re the cash grant that is now overdue. It is the middle of December and he plays these unpresidential games with the well-behaved people. Like a cat with a mouse under its control and paws, such is the state that Guyana’s Irfaan Ali has the Guyanese people. There shouldn’t even be a discussion about if or when a cash grant will be. A cash grant should have been announced and in full swing already. The new side of Pres. Ali complements all those other sides of his that finds him direly wanting.
