Dear Editor,
Shortly after Guyana became a republic in February 1970, Prime Minister Forbes Burnham as he then was removed British awards such as knighthoods (Sir), OBE, CBE, MBE, etc, and replaced them with local awards such as OE (Order of Excellence), OR (Order of Roraima), CCH (Cacique Crown of Honour) etc. The announcement of these awards was continued by his successors until 2002. There was a lull for nine years by the PPP/C administration, and thereafter a few awards were given in 2011.
Last year when Brigadier David Granger took over as President, in his capacity as Chancellor of Honours he awarded honours to more than fifty nationals and said that he would continue the Burnham trend to announce awards on an annual basis. I seem to recall that in the 1970s and 1980s the names of the proposed awardees were announced on February 23, the anniversary of our republic, and the presentation of the awards was done on May 26, the Independence anniversary.
If President Granger is to take his pattern from the first two Presidents he and his advisors should start thinking of the names of possible nominees. Moreover they should hand out awards to persons who deserve them and not name persons because of their political affiliation.
There were a few critics in the 1970s that Guyana should have retained the English tradition dating back to ancient Rome, and Barbados and Antigua and Barbuda, former British colonies do award ‘Sirs’ and ‘Dames’ in their local honours, thus in my view misleading some people that these originated from London. Cricketers like Clyde Walcott, Conrad Hunte, Wes Hall, and others were awarded the local knighthood as well as academics, Hilary Beckles, Keith Hunte, and lawyer Richard Cheltenham et al. I must mention that cricketers, Sir Frank Worrell, and Garfield Sobers were knighted by Her Majesty the Queen.
Over in Antigua and Barbuda, cricketers Andy Roberts, Richie Richardson, Curtly Ambrose were ‘knighted’ by the Antigua government, and several years ago a similar award was bestowed on former acting Chief Justice, Bryan Alleyne of Dominica, as well as brilliant Guyanese-born lawyer Fenton Ramsahoye. Ron Sanders was awarded a local knighthood, but he also received the high honour from Her Majesty the Queen.
Back in Guyana, President Granger should take time and consider carefully who he should nominate and not allow political affiliations to cloud his judgment. For more than a decade I had advocated for Wordsworth McAndrew to be given recognition, but unfortunately it came after his demise. I also called for Hugh Cholmondeley, the man who placed Guyana on the broadcasting map for introducing ‘inserts’ in news items, to receive an award, but he too has passed without being honoured.
There are a few outstanding lawyers who should be awarded silk and be admitted to the inner Bar, and I hope this will soon be addressed.
Yours faithfully,
Oscar Ramjeet
