In his quest for publicity (to hock his self published book?), Ruel Johnson feels compelled to revive the infant terrible role even though he’s so long in the tooth. The last time he tried it, he was pitching for the post of editor with the Guyana Press – at a price of $3 million a month.
He evidently thought – by some reverse psychology process – that by cussing out the Culture Minister Dr Frank Anthony, who would’ve been his boss, the fella would hire him. He thought wrong. So he’s throwing another hissy fit once again. But then we shouldn’t be surprised – they do say that you can’t teach old dogs new tricks, don’t they? He also decided to move up the ladder and cuss out Dr Anthony’s boss – President Donald Ramotar. And what’s twisted his bukta into a knot this time? “Ramotar isn’t fit to attend Nelson Mandela’s funeral,” he hissed. He didn’t take issue with those who wanted the prezzie to take along Opposition Leader David Granger with him.
Granger, it’s said, is the inheritor of Forbes Burnham’s mantle, and Burnham’s right up there as one of the liberators of South Africa. So Granger should’ve gotten a free ride. Well, let’s talk about Granger, Ramotar and South Africa. Ramotar is the inheritor of the mantle of Dr Cheddi Jagan…first as general secretary of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) and then as president of Guyana. Dr Jagan, we have to remember, was honoured by South Africa with its highest civilian award: the Order of the Friends of O R Tambo. This was awarded posthumously for Dr Jagan’s “exceptional contribution to the struggle against racial oppression and colonial exploitation”. The award, as a matter of fact, had been accepted by no other than Ramotar himself…in a ceremony that also conferred the honour to non-aligned giants, India’s Jawaharlal Nehru and Indonesia’s Sukarno (born Kusno Sosrodihardjo).
Burnham, as Ramotar’s critics disingenuously pretend to forget, was denied the same award. Most credible Pan Africanists raised the not inconsequential matter of Burnham’s role in the assassination of Dr Walter Rodney. Johnson should take the plank from his eye when he says the president’s not fit to attend Mandela’s funeral because he hasn’t walked in Mandela’s shoes. Has Granger? Even Barack Obama admitted he fell short. Mandela was a man who preached that we cannot keep on stirring up old hatreds. In this regard, Granger has been most egregious – witness his creation this year of a monument to the victims of Sun Chapman.
Is this what Mandela would’ve done? Johnson should be ashamed for ignoring the foisting of Granger, the disciple of the discredited Burnham, into the final rites for the man who will go down in history as the “great forgiver”.
