Category: Eyewitness

…to bitter (bauxite) myths One of the constants of politics in divided states is the cultivation, nursing and retention of myths of persecution and oppression by the “other”. This tendency, of course, helps immeasurably to create the divisions in the first place!! Given the opportunity – or creating the opportunity – it becomes a case of “payback time” when the shoe is on the other foot, or the cutlass is in the other hand!! Like all myths, there’s always at least a grain of truth at the centre, but that…

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…in AFC ranks Well…well…well!! What’s going on here IN THE AFC’s top tier? Chairman Ramjattan says he’s FOR the sedition clause, and Leader Trotman says he ISN’T?? Ramjattan tried to pass off his retrograde stance by claiming some sort of misguided pragmatism: sedition’s already on the books, so Clause 18 in the Cybercrime Bill is just putting in in the “stratosphere” (sic) of the internet!! Can you believe this fella? Well, your Eyewitness doesn’t!!” Ramjattan’s just playing to the PNC gallery – which is where the drive for the draconian…

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…love No…your Eyewitness didn’t mix up the Bard’s play, “Love’s labours’ lost”. That had to do with a king and his three friends who decide to focus on their studies and not to get distracted with “love”. But being yesterday was “Labour Day”, he decided to reflect on the heady days of yore when Labour was strenuously wooed by the politicians. And why today, they barely rate a second glance. In case you’ve forgotten, dear reader, the very existence of our country is due to “LABOUR”. And yes, it should…

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…in democracy’s coffin You’ve got to hand it to the PNC: they’re leaving no stone unturned in their drive to reinstitute over Guyana the dictatorship first established by Forbes Burnham. But then, the present leader of the PNC – David Granger — did say publicly and repeatedly that his mission is to continue the “legacy” of the PNC’s “founder-leader”. And like Burnham, he does seem to like covering his excesses with legal fig leaves. This time, it’s through reaffirming the ancient common law charge of “sedition” and seditious libel via…

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…on criminal charges After futzing around with two years of throwing shade at the PPP, after the highly publicised “audits” were conducted by one Goolsarran, the PNC-led Government charged ex-Finance Minister Ashni Singh and ex-head of NICIL, Winston Brassington, with “criminal misconduct in a public official”. Your Eyewitness already weighed in on the ridiculousness of instituting an archaic, COMMON LAW criminal charge. So, have no fear, he isn’t going to regale you again, dear reader, with the arcane technical minutia of that loose and imprecise medieval charge — which has…

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…the corrupt Brits The British High Commissioner was right up front with Clive Thomas in one of the silliest stunts in decades by a governmental entity: its corruption walk. After Thomas revealed his agency’s mandate is to go after State assets both locally and abroad, but he’d decided to start with the overseas cases, it made the march even sillier. Which foreign jurisdiction will even notice? But the British have been up front not only on the march but also on the investigative end – albeit for SOCU, having lent…

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…IDs for voting One of the pluses of the PNC being out of office for 23 years is that it allowed the US “Automatic Declassification Rule on sensitive documents over 25 years old” to kick in. Since he expired 33 years ago, this gives us the opportunity to review Burnham’s schemes to construct his dictatorship with the aid of the Americans. Of course there are exceptions, because of America’s policy not to reveal names of their informants and agents etc. Parts of the records may be redacted – blacked out…

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…of (2020) time Basil Williams, Chairman of the PNC – who, not coincidentally, also just happens to be the “losing-est” Attorney General in the history of Guyana – just concluded a “seminar” of SOCU and FIU hirelings by berating them they’d better get some convictions – by any means necessary! While Williams isn’t the brightest bulb in any room – much less one with lawyers! – it’s clear some of his cases thrown out were brought because of his PNC hat. After three years in office, even the die-hard faithful…

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…and misconduct of public officials Your Eyewitness is still floored by the barefacedness of this PNC government. Three years after they had sneaked into office on the back of trumped up charges that the PPP government had ‘siphoned off” billions and billions from the Public Treasury, all they can do is bring a charge of “MISCONDUCT IN PUBLIC OFFICE” against Ashni Singh and Brassington?? Jeez!!! That’s pathetic. Yesterday we spoke about the Government creating a scapegoat to take the heat off their exploding corrupt shenanigans…but this scapegoat just walked right…

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…at MLK and 1968 Fifty years ago last week – April 4, 1968 – Martin Luther King was assassinated. In Guyana, Burnham had already told the Americans he was going to rig the upcoming elections. He’d met Dean Rusk, Secretary of State in Jan ‘68 and in the same month MLK had been assassinated, the “303 Committee” – constituted by the Americans to install and keep the PNC in power – reported: “[less than 1 line of source text not declassified] representatives met with Prime Minister Forbes Burnham in late…

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