The National Toshaos Council (NTC) is maintaining its demand for the revocation of the Commission of Inquiry appointed to deal with land matters, with Toshao Lenox Shuman calling for the terms of reference (ToR) of the COI to be better defined and for the appointments of the commissioners to be justified.
The St Cuthbert’s Mission village leader, in a statement sent out last week, asked how President David Granger had been advised on the matter, as he opined that the “sheer dynamics and complexities” which surround Indigenous land issues require a different commission with different skillsets and expertise.
In addition to the ToR and appointments, Shuman also requested the rules of operation of the commission be improved upon to “better guide the process”.
Stating that it is his belief that the place of indigenous people is secured in Guyana’s Constitution and should be respected and protected, Shuman sought to remind those in authority that indigenous peoples are entitled to “free prior and informed consent,” which he said was not adhered to. To support this point, he then went on to reference Article 19 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which says, “States shall consult and cooperate in good faith with the indigenous peoples concerned through their own representative institutions in order to obtain their free, prior and informed consent before adopting and implementing legislative or administrative measures that may affect them.”
Shuman had begun his statement by addressing views expressed by Vice President and Minister of Indigenous People’s Affairs Sydney Allicock pertaining to his stance on the appointment of the land commission.
He said it was regrettable Allicock had equated his advocacy “with Judas having full view and knowledge of my character. The very minister whom I respect and whose principles I hold in high regard and to which I have executed my offices as Chief of Pakuri and Vice Chair of the National Toshaos Council! Those two key principles are: ‘Attack the issues, not the person,’ and ‘While the elephants fight the grass suffers,’” Shuman said. “…an attack on the President of Guyana must be viewed as an attack on the nation, and likewise, an attack on the democratically elected leadership of the indigenous peoples must be viewed as an attack on all of Guyana’s indigenous peoples. What is important to note is that the indigenous leaders are not incommunicado nor are we impervious to verbal communication. We look forward to His Excellency engaging the NTC in dialogue on a clearly defined pathway forward.”
A debate on an opposition motion for the revocation of the CoI on lands commenced last week Monday in the National Assembly.
During Monday’s sitting, Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the NTC Joel Fredericks and Shuman, respectively, were seated in the National Assembly wearing their traditional head dresses.
In his presentation, Allicock charged that the motion seeks to discuss an issue that is non-existent and in reality challenges nothing. He said it was strange that four days before the motion came up for debate, two leading members of the NTC, on a “frolic” of their own, sought to debate the “same non-existent situation.”
Fredericks and Shuman were the leading voices at a press conference held by the NTC last week, during which they called for the CoI’s revocation.
Allicock said the motion helps to cement the PPP/C’s position in the opposition beyond 2020. He said the CoI’s terms of reference do not even have a veiled suggestion of a disposal of Amerindian land titles and he called on the opposition to prove the assertion or apologise to the indigenous people and withdraw the motion.
In the same vein, he said, the NTC Vice-Chairman broke ranks with his colleagues, demanding that the Amerindian land titling process be halted until the Act is amended. He added, now the “same gentleman,” though he did not name him, a few days ago made an “about face of no mean order.” He went as far as to refer to the biblical story of Judas, who had identified Jesus to the Roman soldiers for 30 pieces of silver.
Minister of State Joseph Harmon last Thursday said the CoI on lands will not be dealing with indigenous and ancestral land issues together, but as two separate issues.
Harmon was asked at the post-Cabinet press briefing on Thursday to address criticisms by the NTC, which has asked that government revoke the appointment of the CoI.
“The toshaos’ statement is a matter of concern; we believe that all citizens have a right to have their issues addressed at whatever level it needs to be addressed…the President, having listened to the concerns by residents across the country regarding land—citizens in the hinterland, the communities in relation to ancestral lands—thought it best to appoint a commission to deal with these issues,” Harmon was quoted as saying in a Government Information Agency report.
Harmon explained that Amerindian land titling will be dealt with by the CoI and there will be no mix-up with the ancestral land claims. “They will deal with ancestral lands, and they will deal with Amerindian land titling,” he said.
