Descendants of the former enslaved Cudjoe McPherson who purchased the village of Kingelly, West Coast Berbice were this afternoon visited by members of the Guyana Police Force drawn from Weldaad and Fort Wellington Police Stations. Family members are erecting a fence on the land as a part of developmental work. The incident happened around 4:00 p.m.
Trade unionist Lincoln Lewis who is a descendant of McPherson told this publication the police swooped down on the family who are presently developing a part of the land (the waterside) to construct a play park.
Lewis said seven police vehicles with 22 policemen arrived at the scene and began interrogating members of the family. The police were accompanied by a group that claimed they have money to deal with the McPherson family. When asked who these people are, Lewis said the group was led by a man named Sadhu who is the People’s Progressive Party/Civic representative in the area.
Lewis also told this publication Sadhu is living in Kingelly thanks to the generosity of his uncle, Clinton ‘Rex’ Thompson who gave him a piece of the family land to occupy in the 1960s. according to Lewis, Sadhu came from Plantation Ross, two villages away, and now having been the beneficiary of his uncle’s generosity is seeking to covet the family’s land which he said not represents generational inheritance but also wealth. The land Sadhu occupied Lewis the family has accepted that he is entitled to prescribed rights under the land law, but “he will not get one square inch beyond that.”
Cudjoe McPherson, the former enslaved, the great-great-great-great grandfather of Lewis bought Plantations Kingelly and Lichfield on the West Coast Berbice which were converted to villages. Lichfield was purchased in 1840 and Kingelly in 1851.
Lewis said the family is still in possession of the document authenticating the purchase of the land in Kingelly. When asked what the family plans to do about the situation, Lewis told this publication, his family shall proceed with their business and no person or political party will deny Cudjoe descendants, the rightful heirs of the land, from maintaining ownership and developing it. According to Lewis, “not here, not now, not ever!”
More on this story later
