Dear Editor,
Lionel Peters, carried himself so humbly that it was very easy to be unaware of all his accomplishments. As a former PYO member, I was very guilty of this as well, and it was only with all the information that I got after he died, I realized that Guyana may have greatly under-valued the treasure we had. Lionel Peters and I talked a lot about various things in the PYO and the role of good governance. In many ways, I think that he captures the essence of what he would like to see Guyana become.
But we are all here for a season and a reason. Lio lived his life well. Like many of us, he had many challenges and heartbreaks, but the many positives and what he accomplished in these years stretches the imagination. I am very sure that even some of his PYO colleagues were unaware of many of his accomplishments. The late Lionel Peters had a sound knowledge of the political arena in Guyana. I know that during his tenure with the PPP he had many social, economic and political analyses of a structural kind.
He had many opportunities overseas but chose to come back to campaign for the AFC in the 2011 election in the country of his birth, which he did unflinchingly. I myself perhaps, can claim to be particularly well-equipped to do that because I participated with Lio for much of the PYO period as a member both the PPP grouping that struggled for free and fair elections and also engaged in the other struggles for the restoration of democracy. So from that experience maybe, I am now well-equipped to speak on the broader structural issues which engaged him and the contribution he made. His demise came as a shock to all. He will be remembered for many firsts – in academia, in the cultural and creative fields and later his contributions in the political arena. His exuberance and simplicity encouraged those who came into contact with him to be steadfast and relentless under pressure, and to be hopeful while working to achieve better goals for Guyana.
In his own aggressive and indomitable style, he has touched the lives of those who worked or associated with him in some way or the other. But I want to make my presentation a little more personal, and that hinges around phases of my relationship with him and his wife Christina, with whom I worked at the Ministry of Housing as Indra Chandarpal’s first secretary. Many would not know that that friendship was exceptionally forged in some ways. We had a bond and it gives an idea of the type of pressures and difficult circumstances under which Lio lived his life until his death.
Yours faithfully,
Mohamed Khan
