Dear Editor,
Mr. Freddie Kissoon sometimes wields his Kaieteur News (KN) column like a blunt instrument and with it he recently bludgeoned his way into a matter about which he lacked basic information. Consequently, he propagated falsehood about TIGI and used this as his basis for essentially calling us hypocrites. Mr. Kissoon framed his approach as holding us accountable, but who holds him accountable?
In an attempt to convey what he reportedly overheard of a conversation between Alfred Bhulai (a TIGI director) and Mr. Donald Rodney, Mr. Kissoon wrote that “Donald then indicated to him [Alfred Bhulai] that he [Mr. Rodney] has not received a reply from the institute in relation to what is happening to his appeal over his conviction for participating in the murder of his brother, Walter Rodney” (Kissoon, November 22, 2019 in KN). This is false information. Mr. Rodney was not awaiting a response about our position on his victimisation or on what is happening with his appeal over his conviction. Furthermore, I wish to clarify that Mr. Rodney did not ask TIGI to make a public pronouncement or express support for him or to make any official contact with any organisation or institution or to otherwise intervene in any way.
TIGI has met with Mr. Rodney previously. He described his situation and the next steps he planned to take. We fully supported and remain in support of him in his fight for justice. At that meeting, Mr. Rodney requested our support in finding a lawyer to work with him on his case. To date, despite our efforts, we have been unsuccessful at securing the legal support. The search was open-ended but we understood the urgency. In the intervening time, Mr. Rodney has had many points of contact with our directors and have discussed various matters. However, I concede that it is reasonable for him to expect that our search would have concluded by now and to have expressed his expectation of a final response to one of our directors.
Nothing in Mr. Kissoon’s column suggests that he understood the issue about which he wrote. If indeed he did not, there arises the question about the ethics involved in pronouncing decisively on something without verifying his information. If instead he did understand, he could be accused of creating mischief by providing a perverted account. It appears that Mr. Kissoon engaged his imputation algorithm to fill the gaps in what he overheard. At present, I have no information suggesting that this is an anomaly in his method.
Mr. Kissoon mentioned that TIGI was undecided about an issue related to Mr. Rodney’s circumstances. His column again does not convey understanding of what this is about. I say no more on this but it continues to baffle me that under such circumstances one can feel justified in advancing the conclusions made about TIGI. The conclusions appear to be both independent of and untempered by the quality of the evidence. Again, I have no information suggesting that this is an anomaly in his method.
In his November 22 column, Mr. Kissoon also turned attention to me personally. Prior to this, he had written about me on a few occasions. I responded once (See KN of February 18, 2018) and explained my perspective on the matter. I will not rehash it here but I wish to clarify that my role as the president of TIGI is to act on behalf of the organisation and not myself and I will not to drag TIGI into matters of personal benefit to me.
In the column, Mr. Kissoon appears to have sampled reality to support a narrative. I appeared along with a University of Guyana colleague on the May 20, 2019 episode of Plain Talk to discuss matters at the University of Guyana at the request of university colleagues. Mr. Kissoon’s May 30, 2019 column lauded my appearance and contributions in that episode. His remaining gripe was his belief that I should have made public pronouncements sooner but he concluded with the words “I salute you!”. Fast-forward to November 22, he reprises his pre-May 30, 2019 accusations while ignoring what happened in-between. This has left me wondering whose hypocrisy is on display.
I think that Mr. Kissoon truly believes in speaking out about issues of corruption and abuse of power in the workplace. The overarching issue however is fixation on pronouncements in the media while ignoring all other fora at which people speak out and get involved in the solutions. Yet, I am unable to find a column from him addressing the pressuring of a Kaieteur News reporter to stop writing about suspected fraud on the part of an active politician. That reporter ultimately left the organisation. It cannot be that Mr. Kissoon would write about me as he has and ignore this matter. That would be hypocrisy. I therefore assume that I will eventually find that column by him.
Yours faithfully,
Troy Thomas, Ph.D.
President, TIGI
