Stabroek News

Gov’t took propaganda, not facts, to UN’s Permanent Forum on People of African Descent

- Dear Editor, Sincerely, Vincent Alexander Chairman IDPADA-G

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 nondescrip­t 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 AfroGuyane­se 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.

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