The Irfaan Ali government in ignoring the wisdom of Will Rogers, “If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging,” and slavishly tacking to the devoted philosophy of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.” The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State” (statement attributed to Nazi propaganda chief, Joseph Goebbels).
However, the continuous dysfunction and ineptitude that characterise the government, as Prime Minister Brigadier (ret’d) Mark Phillips (SN, KN, GT VVN, September 5, 2023), even though instructed to ‘toe the line,’ accepted the certainty of my statements; the President’s advisor, Professor Emeritus Randolph Persaud (DV September 4, 2023) sought to sidetrack.
The case first presented to the public by yours truly on August 28, 2023 (Village Voice News) on President Ali is quite simple. The government’s inability to physically shackle persons because systems of chattel slavery and indentureship are no longer legally permissible does not remove the economic, political and social shackling of the ordinary people, where the very human rights the prime minister acknowledged did not exist during slavery, whilst in existence now, are not being respected and under threat.
I ask both Dr. Persaud and Prime Minister Phillips: wasn’t slavery about the denial of human rights and dignity; and as the prime minister reminded “one of the darkest chapters in human history, marked by immense suffering, dehumanisation, and the systematic violation of basic human rights?”
Now, examine 21st century independent Guyana where immense suffering, dehumanisation, and the systematic violation of basic human rights are the order of the day.
Because of time constraints and space, reference was made to a few, such as paying real wages by respecting workers’ right to collective bargaining; pointing out that approximately half the population is poor in oil-rich Guyana; government flooding of lands and destruction of homesteads in Success, ECD, Vreed-en-Hoop, WBD and Mocha Arcadia, EBD to remove persons deemed “squatters” off the land.
The United Nations’ Commission on Human Rights, Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities Report in outlining the “Twelve Misconceptions and Misinterpretations of the Right to Housing,” dispelled the notion of ‘squatters’ being criminals and unworthy of meaningful engagement and respect. The government has shown no regard for this report nor has to date sought to adequately compensate persons for the damage.
Other basic rights such as access to quality health care, free education from nursery to university, ownership of property, freedom from want, and specifically to yours truly, the right to respond are not universal. There will be no surprise if the state-owned and party aligned media houses that carried Dr. Persaud and the prime minister’s commentaries that referenced me comply with Goebbels counsel.
These are the issues President Ali should address his mind to or be accordingly counselled on. The structural absence of a system does not mean it cannot be perpetuated, even in part, in other forms as United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres often reminds us with racism and apartheid. Slavery is abolished yet racism exists and other cruelties.
Placing an inordinate amount of time to the statement “sadly in 21st century independent Guyana, the Ali government, in many ways, is not different from the colonial masters and enslavers” without addressing the evidence that has influenced arriving at such will be of no substantial impact to the people given the mountainous problems and human rights violation they suffer daily. Goebbels’ thinking and practice will not conquer all.
I reiterate here and now, with comfort and conviction, that the Irfaan Ali administration is in many ways no different from the colonial masters and enslavers, and unless they do not get the understanding of this and change course they too like the colonisers between the 15- 19th century will one day face the wrath of a suppressed people with even those commonly perceived to be of their traditional base turning away from them, fighting to liberate and claim justice in varied forms for their African brothers and sisters, and others who too are victims of PPP/C social, political and economic injustices.
I also repeat the call for the president to apologise to the people of Guyana for the mismanagement of the state and economy and uncouthness as though Guyana and our people are bequeathed to him. I will not sugar coat the bitter spoon forced down the throats of the ordinary man and woman, the deprived, flooded-out, underserved and marginalised communities of the disillusioned and disenchanted.
Change must come and it can only come from a people who are knowledgeable and understand their entitlements and rights under the law. It can only come from those who are hungry enough to make it happen. I make no apologies for speaking our truth as we live, experience and understand it. Guyana must rise!
