Nagamootoo, Ramjattan filled with “hate, venom”

Former AFC Executive Member Francis Darchiville

…backstabbing other leaders –Francis Darchiville

Former National Executive member of the Alliance For Change (AFC) and former RDC Councilor of Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) Francis Darchiville, expressed with greatest disappointment the new direction in which the AFC is headed, noting that prime members such as Leader Khemraj Ramjattan and Vice Chairman Moses Nagamootoo now breathe “hate” and “vindictiveness.”

“They have an obsession with power grabbing. The leadership, to my mind, especially Mr Nagamootoo and Mr Ramjattan, is filled with too much hate and too much venom in their veins to run anything as far as I’m concerned…everything that comes out of these people mouth is all hate and I don’t think I would support these people to run this country. They are so obsessed with power,” Darchiville exclaimed during a recent exclusive interview with Guyana Times.

He noted that he joined the Party sometime in 2006 because he believed in the principles of national unity that the party had once preached. “Initially I joined because I liked what they were saying, it was two young attorneys and the late Sheila Holder from the Working People’s Alliance (WPA), who were fed up of their respective parties and they got together to form this alliance and I decided to get on board with them because I thought it was a good thing for Guyana,” he explained.

AFC Vice Chairman Moses Nagamootoo

But as time progressed, Darchiville said he noticed several shifts in the system and certain members began to ‘change’. Eventually, he said the party deviated from its original concept of a multiracial party whose purpose was to transform politics in Guyana and effect change in society.“I left because I didn’t like what I was hearing and what I was seeing and the direction the party was heading…they were headed in a totally different direction and I feel that it is a total betrayal to their supporters,” the former executive related.

Consequently, Darchiville resigned in 2012.

“Right now, what I’m hearing has sort of made me glad that I left when I did,” he firmly declared.

Further, Darchiville said he believes Holder would strongly condemn the marriage between the AFC and APNU if she was still alive.

Hypocrisy

AFC Leader Khemraj Ramjattan

Darchiville also spoke of the hypocrisy the AFC represented during his tenure with them. One classic example of this, he stated, would be the “love” displayed between Ramjattan and Raphael Trotman. “Mr Ramjattan and Mr Trotman would be embracing each other in front of the crowd and in front of people and calling each other brothers …but believe me, there is no love between those two people. So don’t try to fool me and hug up and call yourself ‘brother’ and then as soon as they turn their backs, there is no love between them,” Darchiville disclosed. Additionally, he disclosed that Ramjattan told him during a telephone conversation that he (Ramjattan) would not support the idea of Trotman becoming Speaker of the National Assembly after the 2011 elections.

“Ramjattan did not want him to be Speaker. Mr Ramjattan told me that he would try his “darnest” to make sure that Moses Nagamootoo would be speaker,” Darchiville related. Darchiville also disclosed that Trotman constantly expressed sentiments of jealousy against Ramjattan. “Trotman did not want to be second to Ramjattan. He said that he did not want to be a baggage boy for Ramjattan.”

Heartless Nature

Meanwhile, Darchiville reflected on a situation where Ramjattan blatantly revealed his ‘heartless nature’. “The man lacks compassion, common decency or gratitude. I was ill…Ramjattan stayed at my house and enjoyed my hospitality for 6 years plus. I was sick with heart trouble at the Suddie Hospital struggling for my life and a friend of mine was driving him to catch a boat and he said ‘let’s go in to see Mr Darchiville’ and Ramjattan said he doesn’t have time, he needs to catch a boat,” he sadly related, noting that he does not want someone like that to rule his beloved country. He said leaders must show they care for ordinary people, much less those who may have helped them.

Meanwhile, recently resigned AFC member, Balwant Persaud had alleged that the Party’s financial records were vague, inaccurate and questionable in nature. Darchiville was questioned about this but said he has no knowledge about those operations in Georgetown. But he noted that his function was to control the operations in Essequibo, all of which he did with no financial help from the AFC. “I have contributed myself when I was regional councilor. I took care of all the expenses required for the operations of the office in Essequibo. I never asked for a nickel to run the office. Everything I paid for and when I came to central, I would bring money. They cannot say they sent a nickel because everything I ran from my own resources, I got money from supporters and all that was accounted for,” he explained.

He noted that, to date, the AFC never provided any financial support for the Essequibo operations – hosting national executive meetings and travelling expenses.