SUPPORTERS of the Alliance For Change (AFC) must be livid at their Chairman, Attorney-at-Law, Nigel Hughes, for the embarrassment he caused them during the last debate organised by NCN.
Clearly the embarrassment was two-fold, since not only did the learned attorney totally misunderstand the topic, but his venomous and vengeful decorum must have instilled a sense of utter disappointment in those, who in and out of the Party, pride themselves with decency and who may have held him in high esteem.
His utterances during the debate in question did much to effect an evaporation of the high regard some may have held him in. Conversely, it effected a further precipitation of journalism devoid of any semblance of adherence to ethics, professionalism and fairness in some sections of the media. Not surprisingly, it provides fodder to the Kaieteur News which has never been indisposed to demonstrate its ability to sensationalise and to gloat about its propensity to disseminate misinformation.
The said medium has also continued to unashamedly display its proclivity to publish material that is disparaging to the government and its officials, especially former President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo. For sometime now, the paper has devotedly embarked on maligning his character in an effort to deliberately discredit him from the immeasurable contributions he would have made to the development and technological advances Guyana experienced under his tenure.
While such discrediting would be an expected function of the opposition, the Kaieteur News seemed to have not only usurped that task, but blatantly persists in expressing itself, in an irrefutable manner, as the opposition; hence, surprise, surprise, the prominence it gave to Mr. Hughes’ rants on its front and centre pages. A better text-book example of biased, unfair and self-serving journalism cannot be cited. Given the anti-government and anti-developmental positions taken by the Kaieteur News, it would not be challenging to conclude that Mr. Hughes knew in advance that he was assured of preferential space in the said newspaper.
One may also undoubtedly conclude that, given the tendency of both Mr. Hughes and the Kaieteur News to engineer misleading information, the assurance of space was never a concern. However, what must be of concern is the collaboration of the two and their cohorts to deceive the public. While space here will be a constraint to address all the falsehoods pedalled by the AFC Chairman and the Kaieteur News regarding Dr. Jagdeo, the allegation that the former president acquired the most wealth than any other Head of State must not be allowed to go unchallenged.
What the ambitious Attorney and the disingenuous Kaieteur News deliberately circumvented was the fact that Dr. Jagdeo’s assets which they questioned, were acquired and paid for by his hard-earned salary when he executed, with distinction, his duties as Executive President and other positions he held prior. What they also skilfully circumvented is the fact that Dr. Jagdeo’s assets were not acquired through the method of confiscation which former President Forbes Burnham, who has now become the idol of the AFC and the Kaieteur News, was repeatedly accused of.
Guyanese must not allow Mr. Hughes and the Kaieteur News to conveniently forget the many properties which were allegedly forcibly taken away from innocent citizens by Mr. Burnham. During that tyrannical reign of the country’s first Executive President, allegations of such confiscations were rife. An estate, a cinema, a luxury vehicle and apartment complexes and other properties were just some of the assets that Mr. Burnham had allegedly commandeered thereby depriving Guyanese of the fruits of their sweat. In addition, it was also believed that Mr. Burnham amassed enormous wealth to the point of being touted as the fifth richest person of African ancestry in the world at that time!
Related allegations of accounts in overseas banks dominated that period; allegations that were vehemently articulated by some who now occupy prominent position within the AFC! To date, Dr. Jagdeo is the longest serving President of the country. Clearly his salary would have accrued and like any other Guyanese, just like Mr. Hughes and Mr. Glenn Lall, free to utilise his disposable income in a manner he sees fit. Just like thousands of other Guyanese, Dr. Jagdeo acquired a house lot though the prescribed process, built a house, sold it for a price that the buyer agreed to pay and utilised his hard-earned financial resources to build the house that clearly has become the envy of the Kaieteur News and the Opposition.
Dr. Jagdeo’s house became the issue of the debate alluded to rather than its intended topic; the former Presidents’ Pension. What’s ironic is that both the Kaieteur News and the opposition (maybe to save space it may be easier to just say the opposition), prior to the debate, alleged corruption in the bill relating to the former Presidents’ Pension, but none was found! As a matter of fact, Mr. Hughes accepted that he and his party, and by extension, APNU, have no objection about the bill. Such pronouncements glaringly beg the question, what’s the issue with Dr. Jagdeo?
Clearly, it wasn’t the pension. Clearly, it cannot be about a Guyanese legally selling and building a house. Barring that, clearly it’s a case of personal vindictiveness as demonstrated in the debate by the AFC and its Chairman, and what was subsequently carried, or continues to be carried, by the Kaieteur News. Clearly, the vendetta continues to unfold under the guise of freedom of expression. Maybe it’s also a vendetta following the non-conferral of the status of SC to someone who seems infatuated with such a title.
