Dear Editor,
On Wednesday March 3, 1982, the University of Guyana Council terminated my appointment as a Research Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies. One man voted against my dismissal, K.A. Juman-Yassin. This Guyanese was courageous. Thank you, Juman-Yassin. You are an inspiration to me and my family. I thought of you, on and off, when I was kidnapped, blindfolded, interrogated and terrorized on February 9-14, 1984.
This unjust, undemocratic and unpatriotic act caused me irreparable personal and professional damage. Yet, there is no bitterness in my heart. It is sad, however, that working people in Guyana provide many of these folks with rewards and pensions.
Hereunder, are excerpts of the “Minutes of Adjourned Council Meeting held Wednesday March 3, 1982 in the Board Room, Administration Building, Turkeyen Campus. PRESENT : Cdes. C. Baird, CCH, Pro Chancellor (Chairperson), G. Walcott, Vice Chancellor (AG.),D. Ainsworth, MP; L.T. Bowen, V. Burnham, E. Burrowes, N. Chaderpaul, W.A. Davidson, K. Denny, E.Gilbert, MP, H. Green, MP, J.Holder, AA, C. Jarvis, AA, L.Lewis, DSM,R. McKay, F. Mohamed, MP, A. Munroe, S.S. Narine,AA, MP, M. Parris, C. Philadelphia, B. Raghubir, DSM,L. Scotland, S.M. Shakoor, G.Sharma, J. Sinclair,G. Singh, S. Singh, K.A. Juman-Yassin,J. Yates, A. Yhap, AA, N. Younge and H.O. Brewester, Registrar/Secretary (Ag.)…”
(After recommending that 29 students be asked to withdraw from the university because they did not do National Service, the Board dealt with my employment at UG).
“…ANY OTHER BUSINESS: Under this item Cde. A. Munroe, Permanent, Secretary, Ministry of Higher Education, told the Board that he wished to raise a matter of vital importance in relation to the appointment (of) Paul Nehru Tennassee as a Research Fellow, Institute Development Studies. He said that since Cde. Tennassee’s assumption of duty in January, 1982 information had come to hand which led to the conclusion that he was not(a) fit and proper person to continue in the employment of the University. He therefore proposed that Cde. Tennassee’s appointment be terminated under clause 3 of his contract and that he should be given (6) months salary in lieu of notice along with benefits to which he was entitled. He added that a cheque for the amount due should accompany the letter of termination.
The Dean, Faculty of Social Science, inquired into the reasons for such a proposal at this point of the agenda and felt that the decision to terminate someone’s appointment so abruptly should not be taken lightly. He called on Cde. Munroe to put forward reasons to support his proposal since from the information gleaned from Cde. Tennessee’s curriculum vitae it would seem that here was no academic reason for the proposal. He opined that such reasons would assist the University in its recruitment decisions. He reminded the Council also of the point of view of the Academic Board which sometime previously had urged that when a person’s contract was being terminated at short notice, some explanation should be given.
The response of some members of the Board was that the Academic Board had no authority over appointments or dismissals and its opinion could be disregarded. They further argued that in matters of this nature the less said the better and no reason should be advanced.
Cde. Juman-Yassin voiced his disagreement and said that such an abrupt termination of anyone’s service could greatly affect his future prospects. He advanced the argument that Council as the body being asked to make the decision was entitled to hear the reasons for the proposal so that it could be satisfied about the objectivity of its decision. He stated that he would be hard pressed to support a proposal without hearing the rationale that led to its presentation.
The majority of the members however insisted that no reasons should be advanced and called on the Pro-Chancellor to put Cde. Munroe’s motion to the vote. The Pro-Chancellor cautioned the Council that the matter was a serious one. However, since there seemed to be a general demand for the motion to be put, she called on members to indicate their support or otherwise of the motion.
In the vote that followed, twenty-six (26) members supported the motion, one (1) member voted against, there was one (1) abstention and one (1) member did not vote.
The Registrar (ag.) was advised to dispatch the letter of termination the next day (4th March) and to seek legal advice on the formulation of the letter.
The Dean, Faculty of Social Science, then told Council that his Faculty would view the decision seriously since it placed them in a rather invidious position. He hoped that at a later stage Council would see the wisdom of offering reasons for its decision.
There being no other business the meeting ended at 17.55 hours.”
Eusi Kwayana told me that my father was the first school teacher who responded to his letter inviting teachers on the Corentyne to join the independence struggle. I witnessed with my mother, when I was six-years-old, the invading British soldiers occupy our store (under Dr Lachmansingh’s house in James Street), and later went to our home in search of my father and subversive literature. I met Forbes Burnham in 1969 at his office in Parliament Building. He listened to me explain my views on how the peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean should be mobilized and organized to assert their true independence. He then leaned back on his chair, slightly touched his little beard and said to me “idealism, idealism, pure idealism.”
Yours faithfully,
Paul Nehru Tennassee
