Dear Editor,
Lincoln Lewis’ letter lays blame at the feet of the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) Government. I take umbrage with this. Thus, I respond to his vacuous blathering. Right off the bat, I see that Lewis accuses the PPP/C Administra-tion of “… forc(ing) the descendants of Africans … to confront brutality in the 21st century, albeit in a different form. Of course, he does not substantiate, as I guess, he really cannot. So, I need to show him what and who unleashed and is still is unleashing it. As a caveat, Guyana must never forget post March 2020 to August 2020.
This period as the world knows, was when APNU/AFC, in front of naked and recording eyes, made repeated attempts to rig ‘fair and free’ elections in Guyana, even after ruling unconstitutionally for almost two years. The reverberating call back then was for the legitimate government, the PPP/C, to take office and start rebuilding the nation, and with good reason too, as I will now delineate, using just one piece of evidence. Editor, in June 2020, it was made public that “At the end of April 2020, the public deposit account had been overdrawn by some $88 billion”, reflecting “a $10 billion increase from the month prior.”
What was “… even more alarming (was) the sustained and massive deterioration of the account, that had a positive balance of just over $5 billion in May, 2015 (bequeathed by the PPP/C of course). In other words, that account alone was drained of some $9 billion, thus indebting each Guyanese, on a per capita basis, to approximately $120,000.” At that point in time, Guyana’s gold reserves were largely liquidated, “…with just a pittance remaining.” And as for the country’s financial state of affairs, it was revealed that “… our foreign currency reserves (were) below the acceptable threshold.”
As we all know today, the Coalition, (A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change), in five (5) years, had “… extracted from Guyanese taxpayers some $300 billion more in additional taxes.” In fact, APNU/AFC with its imposed 200 new tax measures, made sullied history. Has he forgotten that the PPP/C reversed, like ASAP too, by passing several amended bills, “… reversing taxes and putting money back into the pockets of citizens…” who for five years were economically slaughtered?
Now, concerning Lincoln’s attack on Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, I am not surprised in the least. This man has been the ‘thorn in in the flesh’ of the congregation of APNU/AFC. He has bested them in the media and the courts, reducing them to a frazzled heap. He, Lincoln, claims that Anil’s mindset, reflective of the Govern-ments, promulgates “… the execution of a programme that corrupts and misapplies the law to disenfranchise Africans, even to the most basic rights of freedom of assembly and speech, when neither posed a threat to the state, but sought to articulate the reality of the African community…” Like is this not more symptomatic of APNU/AFC?
What do the likes of Lincoln Lewis make of the December 2017 court issue, when three farmers, Phillip Johnson, Rawle Miller and Rupert Blackman of Seafield, West Coast Berbice, were delivered via the said Attorney at Law, Anil Nandlall, and his team, all because of President David Granger’s “… illegal act that violated Article 142 (1) of the Constitution, that redounded in the revocation of these farmers’ leases. Chief Justice (Ag) Roxanne George described Granger’s act of revocation as “… discriminatory, arbitrary and capricious.” Anil is the consummate antithesis of what Mr. Lewis is making him out to be. Just look at what he is doing in terms of empowering Africans to ‘legally’ own lands in Golden Grove, Melanie Damishana and Buxton. I ask readers to ponder “Who is who for whom.”
So, the immoral smear is on APNU/ AFC and not on Anil nor the PPP/C. And the ‘Cuffy 250 Committee’ indeed will have to get not only ‘more voices,’ but better and honest ones, who are not forgetful of necessary truths, and who will not be inventing lies. Let me close Editor, by agreeing with Mr. Lewis that indeed there is a need for “… having frank, honest and open conversations, (so) we can move to correct what is wrong in society.”
What is wrong? Well, I have pointed out a few, and for starters, the fraternity of APNU/AFC, with the likes of Lewis, need to apologize to their disciples. They can start with their mismanagement of the country’s finance, repeated attempts at rigging the 2020 elections, and the fabrications of Chief Election Officer Keith Lowenfield, and Region Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo, who are facing charges of conspiracy to defraud voters at the 2020 general and regional elections.
Sincerely,
Deodat Singh
