Dear Editor,
I penned this letter to commemorate the 17th anniversary of the assassination of Brother/Comrade Ronald Waddell and to share my thoughts on the recent developments that took place in Buxton on Wednesday, 1st February 2023.
I reflected on what occurred in Buxton two days after the anniversary of Waddell’s execution by killers allegedly for associating with what was happening in that village beginning from 2002. I sense the presence of ancestor Waddell intervening on our behalf at this critical moment when the rulers, the oppressors, were demonstrating to the world their “political trophies”, that is, African collaborators across the country. Buxton was identified by the PPP and President Irfaan Ali in their attempts to counter the political influence of the WPA and the PNC in the community. It is an African tradition that our ancestors, work on our behalf at times sowing seeds of confusion and divisions in the ranks of our oppressors and their allies.
While we have to be careful when analysing developments in Buxton to bear in mind the interest of the village and its residents, it would be remiss not to point to the political dimensions mirroring the crisis that began in the community in 2002. During that period, I went to lengths at risk of being ridiculed, for advocating the political nature of the conflict the roots of which were the extra-judicial killings of young African men by the PPP agents in the Guyana Police Force (GPF) and their drug allies. The situation got to the point where the African community was crying out for action to stop the killings. That cry was answered by what I deemed the African Armed Resistance, separating that resistance from our normal day-to-day political resistance. Also, to capture the inherent politics of its birth, the African community was pushed to the brink by what the then Head of the Presidential Secretariat Roger Luncheon described as the actions of Phantom Killers.
The genesis of the crisis in 2002 was political governance that facilitated extra-judicial killings to achieve political goals. However, my concern here is the politics of the situation. The PPP actions at the time were covert, and their allies/collaborators were unknown to the nation – allowing deniability. Now the situation is different. The PPP government has political enforcers in Buxton. This is open public politics and there can be no denying it. It is well established whose business activity triggered the CANU ‘s operation. Interestingly, the media reported that the police and government statements claimed a village leader negotiated the end of the standoff. This person is known to be a PPP enforcer/supporter who received patronage from the party and government.
We are left to decipher what are the social/political undercurrents at work. As I write to honour my brother and comrade Ronald Waddell, I unreservedly return to my previous position and am contending that like in 2002, the present developments in Buxton are political and cannot be separated from the Ali/Jagdeo/PPP governance of the country. What is the genesis of the present developments? Today the African community is experiencing a sense of hopelessness and despair as a result of the government’s discriminatory policy of exclusion, and dehumanization by not being treated as equal citizens, and forced to trade off political loyalty and dignity for economic and social benefits. This repressive and racist approach to governance has united Africans across the country that we are facing unprecedented political, economic and social domination unparalleled in our modern history. The politics of exclusion is driving the African masses into supporting elements with questionable wealth and influence irrespective of their activities, political or otherwise.
The policy of pauperizing the African community into political subjugation under the authoritarian doctrine of “political breakthrough” is based on the fallacy of African political docility. We are been forced to bring begging bowls to the PPP table. The government policy of African exclusion from determining how the oil money is spent is so pervasive that even their African collaborators are not immune from this cancer that has engulfed the nation. Having promoted their allies in Buxton is a “shining trophy” to the nation and the world, it is logical for the allies to demand equal treatment as their Indian counterparts in the “dirty” business. This is how the PPP’s Buxton enforcers are justifying their actions on Wednesday 1st February 2023. They see CANU ‘s action as the government acting in “bad faith”, that is, the disruption of their business, and denial of uninterrupted access of their business operations as racial victimization. In closing, I am contending that the principal contradiction in the recent developments in Buxton is political, rooted in the PPP/Ali/Jagdeo-style governments and the continued evolution of the criminal state. Brother Ronald Waddell will agree with my assessment and this is what is important to me.Yours faithfully,
Tacuma Ogunseye
