Dear Editor,

I would strongly suggest to Dr Henry Jeffrey that he slows down his letters to the newspapers because as his outpourings increase, he is going to face further scrutiny from a public that is fully aware that Minister Jeffrey spent 16 years as a minister of government from 1992, and left the Cabinet after a dispute with the President over the signing of the EPA with the European Union. We still don’t know if Dr Jeffrey left on his own or was asked to leave. In a Stabroek News report of November 22, 2008, he is quoted as saying there was no dispute with the President and after a long sojourn as a minister, he had agreed to a posting in our embassy in Suriname.

It would help the historical record down the road if Dr Jeffrey can tell us why he left or was asked to leave. Many feel that the profusion of letters in the press from Dr Jeffrey is an indication that he trying to position himself with the opposition. I cannot see how any Guyanese can see sincerity in his constant criticism of the Jagdeo government when for 16 years there has not been one single line in the newspapers (or maybe in a television interview) by Dr Jeffrey that testified to his open, critically independent mind. Why should any Guyanese trust a PPP minister who spent 16 years in the Cabinet and only when he is outside, one hears all types of castigations from him?

Perhaps there is an answer. While you are a Cabinet minister, you cannot openly disagree with your government. But what about now? What have we learnt from Dr Jeffrey in all those letters he writes in the Stabroek News? Dr Jeffrey cannot tell us about the abominations he saw for 16 years because he would face the inevitable inquiry – yet he stayed on and when he had enough of the Cabinet he still wanted to serve that government as an ambassador. He explained recently that he thought that the PPP government should have done more on the front of ethnic integration. What did he achieve as a minister on this level? Can he tell us if he spoke up or if he requested a ministry that could have allowed him to explore avenues of ethnic reconciliation?

I would like to offer readers a sample of Dr Jeffrey’s exercise of power which hardly differentiates him from former PPP colleagues. When he was Minister of Housing, a contractor (name provided) was given contracts to develop lands for housing. Presidential Assistant William Cox and I went to Minister Jeffrey to complain that the contractor took a million dollars from Mr Cox and months had passed and the house was yet to start. Minister Jeffrey told us he had no jurisdiction over the contractor. Our lawyers told us that the contractor could have been sanctioned because he was contracted to the government. The contractor never built the house for Cox. And that poor fellow lost his million dollars; every cent of it.

Dr Daniel Kumar and I reported Dr Jeffrey to the Ombudsman when Dr Jeffrey was Minister of Education. The Minister refused to permit the child of a poor mother to attend West Ruimveldt Primary even though she lived yards away from the school. The child was placed miles away in another school. The Minister replied to us in the newspaper with the defiance that school placement is a random process. I will never forget this aspect of Dr Jeffrey’s insensitivity. We never heard from the Ombudsman. Dr Jeffrey was spared the investigation because democracy doesn’t exist under the PPP government

Thirdly, during my short stint as a media consultant to Information Minister, Moses Nagamootoo, Dr Jeffrey in his capacity as Minister of Health wrote a letter to Donald Ramotar asking that my services be terminated because I had called for a Cabinet reshuffle and suggested that Dr Ramsammy be made the Minister of Health. There was not even a hint that Dr Jeffrey was incompetent. The remark was based on the fact that Dr Ramsammy is a medical expert. Mr Ramotar tabled Dr Jeffrey’s letter to the PPP hierarchy. Mr Nagamootoo was ordered to terminate the consultancy. One year after, Mr Ramotar spoke to me and offered his regrets about what he had done. My suggestion to Mr Ramotar was that he should have made his regrets public.

In conclusion, Dr Jeffrey in my humble opinion is no born-again democrat. Dr Jeffrey is simply strategizing on the possibility of a PPP defeat and is seeking a place in the new scheme of things. I say in all honesty, I cannot see what value Dr Jeffrey can bring to any of the opposition parties. He has no constituency and would not be a vote-catcher. Dr Jeffrey had his time. He is now back at UG and he should spend his energy analyzing the reason why the PPP became an elected dictatorship. He owes the Guyanese people that obligation. More importantly he owes his country’s history that dedication.

Yours faithfully,
Frederick Kissoon