February 2 ,2021
Kaieteur News – We are providing some unsolicited guidance to His Excellency, President Ali, which we believe to be wise and is a must. Just say No! Mr. President. We speak not of war on drugs, which is a problem for Guyana. Or war on leadership oil mismanagement and political oil corruptions, which are so far gone that it may be a futile effort, if the will, sincere and constant, was present. We urge Guyana’s president: Just say, No! sir, to declaring war on the independent local media.
We can be critical and revealing and embarrassing and inconvenient and untimely, and all the rest of what goes along with our presence, mandate and obligations in the Fourth Estate. We just have to be, and that is not up for debate or negotiation, regardless of which political party is in power. As President Ali should know, a free, unfettered, and fearless media is one of the underpinnings and hallmarks of a true democracy, and where democratic ideals are the norms held dear and practiced. We also take the opportunity to remind the president that freedom of speech is a provision enshrined in our constitution. That means freedom of access, freedom to inquire and acquire, and freedom to disseminate. There was and is nothing unpatriotic or undemocratic of seeking information by asking questions, of opening the door to clarity by an uninhibited media presence.
Yet this is what President Ali participated in, and whether it was willingly or unwillingly, he is the leader of this country of ours, and the responsibility for this snafu rests squarely on his head and shoulders. We would like to give the new and young president a pass, but we are unable to do so. Truth be told, we are unwilling to do so, as there is a growing sense of media disrespect (through silence and secrecy on oil), selective and hazy leadership postures (on the West Berbice murders and ensuing road outrages), and now this premeditated and prearranged media farce, where only the state agencies were invited and admitted, and one entity with historic links to the ruling party power apparatus.
It is incredibly perplexing, almost mindboggling, that after the raging tempests of close to 19 months around the no confidence motion and national elections, that matters have so quickly degraded to this outrage in the span of a mere six months into President Ali’s government. We are troubled and agitated that we have to remind His Excellency that it was sections of the same independent media that spoke to democratic and electoral truths in a nonpartisan manner during that period. Yet, now there is this horrid and inexcusable development that negatively impacts the same media that does its job. Well, we at this paper have no intention of changing our ways, or ceasing to do what we have always done, which is speak to truth and speak it accurately and courageously. It is how we have to be, as presidents and parties come, and as they go.
Having said all of this, there is neither interest nor effort on our part to figure out what was going on in the president’s mind, who was behind his independent media blocking action, or what could have been his objectives in the action taken and at such a very sensitive time. Venezuela and its detention actions of our fishermen and fishing boats, in violation of all standing legal and civilized standards, are on the lips and in the hearts of all Guyanese. They want to know as much as possible. They need to know, and we need to know from presence and probing questions, so that we in the media can enlighten our fellow citizens.
It is now history that President Ali put up his barricade, which was bad enough. He followed that outrageous action, by refusing to furnish any answers to questions that were outside the range of his script. We will not condemn him for that, or for embarrassing the whole of Guyana, as he did a magnificent job at those all by himself. The man is president and leader, and believed to be the proud holder of a sheepskin parchment that attests to his doctoral standing. It is obvious that His Excellency, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali, has some self-healing to engage in first and very early. His actions did not humiliate the independent media locked out, he humiliated himself.
In parting, we leave a little gift with Guyana’s president. It is a Gallic proverb that goes like this: “L’adversite fait l’homme, et le bonheur les monstres,” which in English translates to: “adversity makes men; good fortune makes monsters.”
