Dear Editor,
Why the silence of Mr. Freddie Kissoon on the Presidential candidate, Mr. Donald Ramotar? Mr. Freddie Kissoon, a columnist of the independent Kaieteur News, covers a range of topics, issues and personalities relevant to Guyana and Guyanese. His columns certainly keep one in touch with what is happening locally and particularly what is happening on the ground floor with the ordinary people. To use sports parlance, KN is the house that Freddie Kissoon built. It is striking that in the light of the upcoming Guyanese elections that Mr. Freddie Kissoon has not yet written on or about Mr. Donald Ramotar, the PPP’s Presidential Candidate! It seems particularly odd for this engaging columnist of the independent Kaieteur News to be so silent. We must therefore consider the possibilities to account for this unusual quietness: Firstly, let us consider Mr. Kissoon himself. Either Kissoon has lost his courage to openly discuss Mr. Ramotar, or does not think this candidate of the PPP is worthwhile to comment on. From what we know of the history of Mr. Kissoon, these possible explanations are extremely unlikely.
Secondly, let us consider the ownership and management of KN. We have to ask if Mr. Glenn Lall (owner of KN and a personal friend of the Presidential Candidate, Mr. Donald Ramotar) has ordered Mr. Kissoon not to write on Mr. Ramotar in his columns. Or, was it that the written material was not published by KN on orders of Mr. Lall? Both possibilities are not what we would expect from Mr. Glenn Lall and Kaieteur News. We are therefore asking Mr. Freddie Kissoon to respond to our enquiries as to why he is not writing on Mr. Ramotar, and whether or not the owner of KN, Mr. Glenn Lall, has placed restrictions on him? Likewise, would Mr. Glenn Lall please tell us whether or not he has placed restrictions on Mr. Kissoon and/or his writings. The journalistic independence and credibility of KN as an independent daily is at stake.
Yours faithfully,
Seelochan Beharry
Jason Benjamin,
Anand Daljeet,
Malcolm Harripaul