Dear Editor,
In typical propagandistic fashion, the Government is complementing its attendance at the 1st meeting of the 3rd session of the Permanent Forum on the People of African Descent, with direct and surrogate releases in the main stream and social media. Included in the fusillade was first, Ras Khafra who reposted a malicious 2022 attack. Secondly, the Ministry of Tourism and Trade issued a press release of distortions. And, thirdly, a non-descript troll took advantage of Village Voice`s liberal editorial policy to scandalize IDPADA-G.
Khafra`s pitiful regurgitation opined that “For several years, Vincent held the post of chairman illegally”. Fact: Vincent was elected unanimously on the first occasion, with Khafra in full support, and reelected for a second term in a no-contest election. Is Khafra confessing complicity in wrong-doing, including being selected to represent the community on the ERC through a process conducted by Vincent? Is Khafra distancing himself from due process, in which he was involved? He represented the Rastafarian Council and contributed to all of the decisions which were made. The signatories to IDPADA-G bank account were duly appointed by bottom-up elected Coordinating Council members. They were five, rather than three as claimed by Khafra. In any case, what is to prevent persons, originating from the same organization, from being duly selected, as also occurred when two members of the Rastafarian Council were elected to represent the community on the ERC and the Women and Gender Commission, respectively? Is that equivalent to hijacking?
It is a fact that the Government’s award of the subvention coincided with the formation IDPADA-G. What`s strange about that, given the organization’s role as the country coordinating mechanism and its goals tied to the Decade. Khafra`s evident illogicality brings into question his ability to carry-out functions which require an objective, professional and non-partisan approach. Interestingly, Khafra announced, at the Forum, that he was representing civil society, although his presence was facilitated by Government, without any reference to any civil society organization. The Ministry`s release is the most egregious and outrageous in its effort to spin. It proclaims that “The Government of Guyana continues to contribute heavily to the development of the Afro-Guyanese communities and the preservation of culture.” The word ‘heavy’ is being redefined. Imagine 70,000,000GYD plus 26,000,000GYD disbursed in the 8th month of the year is defined as ‘heavy’, compared to 9 billion GYD in appropriation to the Indigenous peoples and over 8.7 billion GYD to sectors that are essentially populated by Guyanese of Indian descent. Without prejudice to those appropriations, the specific appropriations to the African Guyanese community clearly indicate the level of disrespect for the people of African descent and the paltry degree of consideration given to the welfare of people of African descent in the designated decade.
I challenge the Minister to take me and members of the press on a visit to the “mega-farms” which, among other ‘projects are geared towards their commitment and fairness’. The reality is that the Government of Guyana has not articulated a plan of action for the Decade and has refused to engage IDPADA-G, whose membership represents the community of African Guyanese, and who have developed a Strategic Plan to address the goals of the Decade. The Government of Guyana has not, and could not have submitted a report to the United Nations since there is no dedicated plan or activities for the Decade. Instead, they sought to maliciously vilify IDPADA-G`s leadership, who have clean hands as verified by the investigative audit undertaken by a unit of the Ministry of Finance. Lastly, the troll’s comments in an article posted on Village Voice is not worthy of response. Imagine the troll contends that “IDPADA-G” (International Decade for the People of African Descent-Guyana) is an “EVENT ESTABLISHED BY THE UNITED NATIONS”. He should be ashamed to expose that level of intellect, publicly.
Sincerely,
Vincent Alexander
Chairman
IDPADA-G