– to become State function
The APNU+AFC Administration will be taking on the responsibility of honouring the lives of past Presidents who served the Cooperative Republic of Guyana.
Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, said last Friday at his post-Cabinet press briefing that, irrespective of which party those past presidents have come from, their death anniversaries are State activities because they had served the State.
“It is the intention of the administration to elevate all of these observances to the level of State functions, and so we can expect that. The one for Burnham has been elevated to the level of State function, and all the other former Presidents who passed (will have theirs so elevated),” he disclosed.
He said the observances are no longer left for a particular party and their resources.
“…so the State is taking on this responsibility, and this is how it will be in the future,” he assured.
Last Sunday, Government celebrated the death anniversary of Guyana’s first Prime Minister and Executive President, Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham. Born on February 20th, 1923, Burnham led Guyana for some 21 years before his death on August 6, 1985, at the age of 62.
President Arthur Chung, born on January 10, 1912, was the first President of Guyana. He occupied that post from 1970 to 1980, and died on June 23, 2008.
Mr Hugh Desmond Hoyte, born on March 9, 1929, succeeded President Burnham in 1985. He died on December 22, 2002.
Dr Cheddi Jagan, born on 22 March 1918, took office on October 5, 1992 under the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), which he had founded. He died on March 6, 1997.
Mrs Janet Jagan, wife of President Dr Cheddi Jagan, was the first female President of Guyana. Born in the United States of America on October 20, 1920, she served for almost two years following her husband’s death in March 1997. She campaigned for the Presidency in December 1997 and won. She died in March 2009.
