The People’s Progressive Party hailed its former chairman Brindley Benn as a national liberation fighter who had made great contributions to the country.

The party mourned Benn in a statement released yesterday saying that he was one of its earliest members. The PPP said Benn was one of the leaders who “led the battle against colonialism” and for social and economic progress in the country.

Brindley Benn, who was the father of Minister of Transport Robeson Benn, passed away on Friday after a brief illness. The party said he was one of the main personalities behind the formation of the Progressive Youth Organisation (PYO) and also a very talented party organizer.
“Like Cheddi and Janet Jagan, he sided with the working people and the poor from the beginning of his political career. This no doubt was due to his own working class origins,” the PPP statement said. The party said Benn had assumed the position of chairman of the PPP, after the split in 1955.

Further, it said Benn had displayed great administrative skills in managing first the Ministry of Education and later the Ministry of Agriculture, Lands and Mines.