Chapter 1:

Creating National Pride, Unity, and a Sense of Duty

Green land of Guyana, our heroes of yore,

Both bondsmen and free, laid their bones on your shore…

And ours is the glory their eyes did not see,

One land of six peoples, united and free.

            From Guyana’s National Anthem
 

Nation-Building

uyana’s political agenda for the next decade must embody a simple and straightforward concept: to make this country a success.  Our goal must be social transformation and growth through unrelenting nation-building.

What is nation-building? It is the implementation of policies that enhance the prosperity, health, modernization and unity of all Guyana. It is the ensuring of a successful, modern and democratic Guyana for our children and their children, a nation all of whose citizens are accorded equal treatment in education, health, housing, and economic opportunity, a nation whose priority is unity, not partisanship, and whose goal is the good of all, not the aggrandizement of some.    

Our National Anthem sings of “one land of six peoples, united and free.” Our children should be enriched with a strong sense of pride in their country. However, when they see that their parents have lost optimism, when they hear the murmurs of doubt and distrust, simply teaching them the words of a song will not give them that pride.

Therefore, we must recommit ourselves to our sense of pride and patriotism. We must revitalize our optimism. When I was growing up, I recited the national pledge, “I pledge myself to honour always the Flag of Guyana, and to be loyal to my country, to be obedient to the laws of Guyana, to love my fellow citizens, and to dedicate my energies towards the happiness and prosperity of Guyana.” But today where is the patriotism and optimism of those words?

We desperately need a resurgence of patriotism and a new focus for national optimism. But we can achieve this only when we stand together in solidarity.

And to achieve solidarity, we must develop a plan for operating in a shared, multi-ethnic society. When we as a people—including those in government—set aside our differences and focus on the future of the country, we will gain the Guyana that we have so long desired, the Guyana that our children will be proud of and want to live in for the rest of their lives.

Who Are We?

uyanese are a strong and competent people.  Although the difficult circumstances stemming from failed policies and poor governance have weakened us at home, in a robust environment—such as when Guyanese choose a life abroad—we earn well-deserved reputations for hard work and ability.

As with any other society, there are statistics that tell our ethnic identity, where we come from and where we live. But statistics cannot tell who we are inside, where we are going and the goals to which we look. Statistics are cold, dry facts that merely describe us. They do not define us.

Guyana is a land of passionate individuals.  It is a land rich in ethnic backgrounds, and when ethnic groups meet, a cross-fertilization takes place and the pulse of the country is quickened. Our land is alive with the echoes of history, and our streets and farms still hold the memory of colonialism, of the British and the Dutch, of African slaves, of Portuguese, Chinese and Indian indentured labourers, and of the native Amerindians. It is not always a pleasant history, but nevertheless, each of us is the sum of that history. Whoever we may be racially or ethnically, the whole of Guyanese history and identity flows through our veins.  Our shared identity is greater than our differences.  Underneath the skin, we are all Guyanese.

And so wherever we may meet, in whatever airport or far-flung country, we are always glad to meet another Guyanese, for we always seek the warmth, the energy, the vitality of our Guyanese identity and background.

Nevertheless, in their place statistics do prove useful, and help us gain an overview of who we are.

First, location: our country is located on the northern coast of South America, bounded on the east by Suriname, on the south and southwest by Brazil and the north and west by Venezuela.

Our country is known as the “land of six peoples,” reflecting our multiracial history. These “six peoples” traditionally referred to are:

 

!          East Indians (about 50% of the population), descendants of indentured labourers from India.

!          Africans (about 36% of the population) whose forebears were brought to Guyana as slaves.

!          Portuguese, who came to Guyana as indentured labourers.

!          Others of European background (principally British).

!          Chinese, who also came to Guyana as indentured labourers. (The Portuguese, other Europeans and Chinese together comprise about 2% of the population).

!          Amerindians, who comprise about 4% of the population.

 

And in addition, Guyanese of mixed descent comprise the remainder—about 8% of the population.  Altogether, we are over 700,000 people living in Guyana (perhaps as many as 770,000) and estimates show about the same number of Guyanese living outside of Guyana.

Where did all of these ethnic groups come from?  When Europeans arrived in the New World, Great Britain and Holland fought over control of Guyana until it became British in the early nineteenth century. Then, during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, slaves were brought in large numbers from West Africa to work on cotton and sugar plantations. When slavery was abolished in 1834 and the slaves left the plantations to establish their own village communities, immigrants were brought in as indentured labourers to take their place. These workers were first brought from Portugal, then from China, and finally in large numbers from India.

Because of its British heritage, Guyana’s official language is English, and thus we are the only English-speaking nation in South America.

Our population of mixed backgrounds is divided into Christians (about 50%), Hindus (about 40%), and Moslems (about 10%).

About 90% of Guyanese inhabit the coastal plain, whereas the remainder—principally indigenous Amerindians—live in the savannahs and the highland region.

But these statistics do not tell who we really are: a people of character, individuality and vibrancy, a people with a warm heart, possessed of fervour and conviction, of empathy and compassion.

That is why each one of us is entitled to say: “I am proud to be a Guyanese.”

Ethnic Strife

adly, the warmth, fervour and heartfelt character of the Guyanese express itself in a negative manner as well.  Guyanese society is marred by longstanding racial and ethnic tensions between Afro-Guyanese and Indo-Guyanese. How many hopes have been dashed by this strife, how much potential has been stifled, how much joy, accomplishment and success have been defeated? Because of this conflict, Guyana is impoverished, not prosperous. Our people die at an early age because the health system has fallen apart.  The middle-class and poor lack housing, and tens of thousands lack food, adequate clothing, and the barest necessities. The government and court system are corrupted by bias and prejudicial treatment. But this strife has paralysed Guyana, a country that contains within it the fecund resources of a Paradise has for many become little better than a hellish existence.

And there is no good reason for this ethnic rivalry.  Both the Indian and African immigrants were brothers insofar as both came to labour upon the plantations. Why should two peoples who were natural allies and should have bonded together to make common cause become such bitter and on-going enemies? 

There are many complex answers to this question. But rather than dwell on those influences of the past, influences that have so thoroughly poisoned our present and threaten our future, we must resolve not to be bound by prejudice. We will not be restrained by the politics of ethnic identity that have kept Guyana from competent governance and decent living standards for its citizens.  We will not be the prisoners of old hatreds and feuds that have kept Guyana a pre-modern state, shunned by those international investors whose infusions of capital could transform our poverty into stunning abundance.

What are the parties involved in this ethnic conflict?

On the one hand, there are the Indo-Guyanese, who live largely in the rural areas and are associated with the sugar and rice sectors. Most educated Indo-Guyanese choose a business or professional career rather than military, police or public service.

The other party in this ethnic strife, the Afro-Guyanese, live largely in urban areas. They are associated with the civil service and the mining sector, and they also overwhelmingly staff the defence and police forces.

Guyana’s two major political parties, the PPP/C and the PNC/R, reflect these racial politics.  And so the PPP/C is an Indo-Guyanese stronghold and the PNC/R is almost exclusively Afro-Guyanese. These two political parties have engaged in hostilities that have served to fuel racial tensions for the past half century. When my party merged with the REFORM that aligned with the PNC, the hope was to attempt to bridge the racial divide across political lines.  

Following Guyana’s independence in 1966 under the leadership of the Afro-dominated PNC, the Indo-Guyanese and Afro-Guyanese jockeyed for power, which have continued to do to this day. Both groups engage in tactics destructive to the morale and fibre of the nation, such as constitutional engineering, executive aggrandizement, parliamentary marginalization, boycotts of Parliament, patrimonial resource allocation and the politicization of bureaucratic appointments.

This on-going and entrenched hostility has borne bitter fruit, for considerations of an ethnic nature have been allowed to override a commitment to what is best for the nation.  In the words of The National Development Strategy (2001–2010) report, “there can be little lasting and sustainable social and economic development in the absence of good governance. This is true for all societies, especially so for multi-racial societies such as Guyana in which fixations with ethnic origins often transcend policies, plans, strategies and performance”.

Indeed, this focus on ethnic hegemony has consumed so much political, administrative and judicial time and energy that little has been left to undertake the policies necessary to facilitate growth and development, and to fight the crime and corruption that have blossomed in the vacuum left by a lack of leadership.

Guyana’s inability to solve its social and economic problems for so many decades—despite the country’s vast resource potential—is due to this crisis of governance, a crisis that is deeply rooted in Guyana’s history and the failure of its post-independence leadership to transcend that past.

This poor governance is marked by inadequate access to justice, corruption, discrimination and harmful centralization of policy. And these inadequacies paralyze Parliament’s ability to make meaningful decisions, create contempt for the rule of law, and erode social capital.

In 1992, following almost thirty years of rule by the largely Afro-Guyanese PNC, the PPP/C party (generally representing the Indo-Guyanese) came into power, and has remained in power since that time.  However, although the Indo-Guyanese PPP controls the legislative and executive branches, Afro-Guyanese are dominant in the public sector (particularly in the police and defence forces). 

At crucial moments, when fateful decisions must be made that will determine Guyana’s well-being, both the PPP and the PNC have retreated from taking bold and courageous stands, instead choosing the action likely to advance purely partisan interests.

Both parties are particularly averse to taking steps to reach accommodation with the other. Each group looks at such efforts in terms of zero sum outcomes, seeing only possible loss to itself, rather than a synergistic gain for the country.

The atmosphere is marked by insecurity and fear, against a background of economic decline. Tensions remain at a high pitch, constantly at edge, at times spilling over into political violence. Too much rancour and bitterness have been experienced for hardened attitudes, hostilities, resentments and fears to be easily assuaged.

Yet we must have the vision to look beyond the accumulated anger and ill-will and see in each Guyanese our brother or sister.

What We Can Become

uyana possesses the vigour of a multi-racial society, comprising a variety of cultures: African, Amerindian, Asian, and European.  It possesses an outstanding educational tradition.  Our language is the lingua franca of the world. 

We must resist factionalization . We must conduct ourselves first and foremost as Guyanese.

As a people, we must ensure that Guyana will be governed with strong moral values and principles.  We must work to eliminate corruption, hate, the killing of the unborn, and other wrongful practices. Instead, our nation must be governed with honesty, integrity and accountability.

For this to happen, the way in which the rule of law is administered must radically change. Decisions must be made in a timely and efficient manner, and they must meet the needs and expectations of the public. Only then will we see optimism and hope spring forth amongst the people of Guyana. 

Our citizens must be assured the basic necessities of life, such as jobs, affordable housing, reliable electricity, clean drinking water, universal access to health care and a better educational system.

We must implement programs to alleviate poverty.  Even more important, we must encourage those on social welfare programs to develop self-reliance.

And we must limit our executive government to the roles of policy-maker and regulator, even as we strengthen local government through full participation.

These are ambitious goals. But they can be attained. The following chapters will discuss Guyana’s challenges and the strategies to deal with them. 

Ultimately, we must wipe away the stains of ethnic strife by achieving reconciliation amongst all Guyanese—that is, by turning the concept of co-operation in governance into an on-the-ground reality.  You may ask, “Can this be done?”  But that is not the correct question.  The correct question is: “How can this be done?”

And that will be addressed toward the end of this book.