Dear Editor,
The Prime Minister, by the President’s grace, Mr Samuel Hinds, OE recently called for Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Guyana. The former President, Mr Jagdeo had said once that he would prefer that such a commission go back to the fifties. I owe both of these statements to press reports that have not been denied.
If I still breathe and can function, I shall be willing to cooperate with such a commission, as my political activity, nationally, goes back to 1947. If too much time goes by the few of us left from those years will be gone about our business to the company of the ancestors.
Such a project is not fit for one-party preparation or planning In fact, if it is to be, it should begin soon with a law establishing custody of historical records of agreed specifications, civilian, labour, police, and military. These should be vested in an expert, non-party or all party body of persons including historians and other agreed persons and vocations. It has to be a serious process. This is a land where various documents have disappeared and evidence of various forms has melted into thin air.
Primary sources must be preserved in a transparent and public manner. The university perhaps should be empowered to verify where newspaper archives are.
A bullet once melted to nothing during a post mortem examination. It means that security (intelligence) reports of the past have to be made available from British and US archives. I believe that there are citizens available who have worked in international organisations, universities and elsewhere, and have wide experience of reconciliation processes. Many too were not involved in ‘politics.’
This letter is intended merely to place these ideas in the public area for people to think about and find credible ways of assisting such a process.
I know that many think that ‘reconciliation’ is for weak-minded people; I ask that they look at any sample of children on the way to or from school and reflect.
Yours faithfully,
Eusi Kwayana
