Buxtonians turned out in hundreds on Friday evening at the market tarmac to hear the AFC’s Raphael Trotman and Mark Benschop plug the message of change.
AFC Prime Ministerial Candidate Trotman, in a spirited address to the gathering of more than 300 persons who flocked the Buxton market square , told the residents that the time has come for the country to have a change in the type of government which has ruled the country for more than 50 years. According to him, there must be something which has caused the political parties “running to you’‘ to gain your support and attention . The AFC itself, he noted, was on its second visit to the community on Friday evening.
Trotman noted that with only “nine days left to freedom”, Buxtonians must recall that they have struggled through and fought difficult times in the past and while the community was “bearing the brunt of oppression” under the PPP/C administration, many have prayed for the community. “We prayed for you and we respected you”, he noted, adding that “we would always honour you and never forget what happened here”.
He declared that no one should enter the community and urge the residents to forget the past and “then go over the river and say to those on the other side to never forget your past”. This was a reference to President Bharrat Jagdeo. He said that the President ‘in his cuss down mode’, has been accusing him and the AFC of entering Buxton and that their presence in the community was in support of crime . “And yet he (President Jagdeo) saying to you to come over here and vote for us”. He asked the lively crowd of mainly women, “are you criminals” to loud answers of no.
He said that if he can attend parliament then he can also enter Buxton , “because there are more criminals in parliament than in Buxton”.
Trotman said that the president is acting as a man possessed, adding that a lot of blood was shed in the community under his presidency. “He is a man who has gone possessed, he is being disturbed by all those who from this community died at the hands of his government, they are holding onto him and have him possessed but come November 28th , he will be free at last”, he said to loud shouts of applause from the crowd which grew as the evening progressed.
Trotman said that the AFC is on a move to reshape the political landscape of the country, one which speaks of change and an adoption of morals which the country has lost under the current administration.
He said that his message to the community was for them to be vigilant and to pray over the next week and according to him, residents should not go out and party and celebrate “until we say to you to stand down”. He said that Buxtonians have paid the ultimate price in the country’s history , as he called on them to remain calm until after the elections when the AFC will be declared as the new government of the country.
Overseas
Earlier in the evening’s proceedings , Shurlunda Daniels , a member of the youth arm of the AFC told the residents , mainly the womenfolk, to recount the years under the government . “I want you to ask yourself how you are doing, when someone calls you from overseas and they ask you how you are doing, what do you as women, what with little to spend on yourselves , do you have to say”. She continued , “you have to say as I tell my relatives , that I am fed up”. The mother of two noted that as a young woman she recalled the community experiencing gravetimes, and she noted that Friday evening was her first opportunity to interact with residents there on the times gone by.
She said that many times as a mother, she asked herself when there will be a change in the country’s fortunes. She said that the AFC has shown her that the country can change as she noted that it is the only political party that has the country’s future at heart. Daniels appealed to the community, not to be fooled by the administration for another 5 years, and she too called on residents to be vigilant as election day nears.
Recent AFC addition Mark Benschop also told the gathering to act peacefully as elections day nears. After receiving a stirring welcome, Benschop noted that he has been associated with the community through its darkest times. An emotional Benschop told the gathering that he recalls the days when many in the community were being shot at, kidnapped and intimidated by the government. “Now they are coming to you and asking you to barefacedly vote for them…look what they have done to you”, he told the crowd.
After observing a moment of silence for those residents of the community who have “died under the hands of the government”, Benschop shared briefly with the gathering his five years of incarceration. He said he cried many tears, especially on the passing of his 8 year old son who died in a fire in the US while he was incarcerated. He told the residents being locked away from society was unjust and according to him , “after the 28th of November , there will be no PPP government”. He also noted briefly that recent PPP endorsement in the form of Philip Bynoe, has failed and fooled the people of Buxton.
He pleaded with Buxtonians to vote for the AFC, noting that the party will change the fortunes of the country. He said that the AFC is about a new brand of politics and policies, adding that, “‘I will never ask you to support a party that will oppress you”. He too preached messages of peace and he called on the community to be disciplined in their approach to elections day.
Keynote speaker and AFC presidential candidate Khemraj Ramjattan told the residents that the elections are like a hurdle , which “can be so easily overcome”‘, but he noted that the AFC has a message which is emanating and being spread by all its leaders , one of change that will turn around the fortunes of the country.
He said that the AFC has attracted a number of quality leaders, as he singled out former PPP stalwart Moses Nagamootoo and former health minister in the PNC administration Dr Richard Van-West Charles.
These are men who were there, he noted, adding that the AFC is the party which will take Guyana into the future and he called on the Buxton community to be the change agents.
“The AFC is like a better PNC and PPP put together”, Ramjattan noted as many faces were transfixed on the party’s presidential candidate as he addressed the gathering.He said that after the death of Dr Cheddi Jagan , the country had experienced a number of atrocities which he noted , are beyond imagination. “But what has gone real bad is the indecency and immorality in every institution of the state, immorality of their platform, ways in which the words uttered against prominent citizens, is rather a shame and disgrace”, he noted.
He also attacked the PresidentialCandidate of the PPP, Donald Ramotar, noting that the elections period is not about Jagdeo but about the GuySuCo director. He said that “he (Ramotar) has mastered the art of being under the skirt of Jagdeo..he was in a variety of settings and he has failed badly”. He continued that “this is the man who has brought GuySuCo down on its knees , when you can bring GuySuCo down then you can’t be a leader of this country”, he said of Ramotar.
Ramjattan said that since independence, the communities across Guyana have been divided because of the politicos who have dominated the country.He said that the PPP in its term in office has corrupted a number of institutions including the Guyana Police Force, adding that corrupt governments thrive on half-baked institutions.
He added that the AFC has a huge task on its hands, one in which it has to build the country into a genuine multi- cultural and multi-racial success,adding that he has been preaching that the country is like a garden of flowers which must be nurtured ,and all must be treated equally.
