Dear Editor,
Freddie Kissoon`s column, in Kaieteur News, of August 12,2004 contends that I ‘let the people of African descent down` by virtue of my letter of August 10 in which I disclosed that CARICOM and the UN had been written to about the underlying ethnic problem in Guyana and that elections was but a manifestation of the problem. I urged them to look beyond elections if they were sincerely lending a helping hand to Guyana. He further contended that knowing who I am would induce fatal “apoplexy”.
My immediate thoughts on Freddie’s contention was that he seems to think that the African Guyanese are in a state of apoplexy and need him to speak for them. That could only have resulted from his own state of apoplexy.
The position that was conveyed to CARICOM and the UN was not singularly Alexander`s. It was the position taken by a forum of the International Decade for People of African Descent Assembly-Guyana (IDAPADA-G). In fact, I was not even present when the forum came to its conclusions. We can think and speak for ourselves and would not subject ourselves to Freddie`s fumigation while he is in a state of cerebral hemorrhage.
That he is in such a state is evidenced by his other utterances in the letter, to which I proffer the following responses.
1. There was never a Declaration of an APNU+AFC victory.
2. My motion, for Lowenfield`s first report to be tabled, predated the Recount and was not in breach of any of GECOM`s procedures or any judicial ruling or precedent.
3. My unequivocal position on a Declaration was, and is, that the electoral process was corrupted to the extent that no credible result could be determined. This position is public knowledge.
4. The position taken by IDPADA-G did not originate at election time. African Guyanese organisations have been articulating this position for years.
5. The United Nations Human Rights Commission report on Guyana, The McDougall report of February 2009, acknowledged and reported on the problem.
Hopefully as a humanitarian gesture, this letter provides Mr. Kissoon with sufficient prophylaxis for him to overcome his apoplexy.
Yours truly
Vincent Alexander
