Henry Jeffrey

I thank Prime Minister Mr Samuel Hinds for taking the time to clarify some of the comments I made in this column last week, in his letter “Shared governance not shared government” (SN 19/04/2013). 

The drive towards dominance has been successful largely because it has been furtive.

If the denudation of opposition-orientated labour organisations is recognised as signifying the initial phase of the march to political/ethnic dominance, the vulgarly partisan 2011 issuing of radio licences and frequencies represents its apogee.

You may recall that, like today with President Ramotar and Mr.

Context is everything and with the defeat of Janet Jagan in 1999, the political context in Guyana changed into the debilitating, acrimonious and anti-developmental environment we now inhabit. 

I decided to consider the Prevention of Discrimination Act, Chapter 99:09 (No.

If I say so myself, by any historical standard, the 1992-97 Cheddi Jagan regime was the most productive period for legislation intended to protect the working people of Guyana.

It does not matter if you are one of the most avowed critics of Cheddi Jagan.

Now that the dust is settling on the parliamentary participation issue involving Minister Clement Rohee, the time might be right for us to consider another important aspect of our political administration thrown up by the Linden debacle.

Last week I argued that a state’s constitution usually takes precedence over general notions of majority rule and I also indicated that the United States Federalist Papers were written to encourage the states to support the ratification of the Federal Constitution and that James Madison believed that one of the best arguments in favour of federalism was its capacity to keep both minority and majority factions in check.

Based on an examination of the existing literature, a situational analysis and discussions with stakeholders, the 2010-2015 “Guyana: Country Cooperation Strategy” (CCS), constructed with the help of the Pan-American Health Organisation (PAHO/WHO), identified some twenty health challenges and seventeen health priorities.

The problems identified by Parliamentary Secretary of Health, Mr. Joseph Hamilton a few weeks ago in relation to personnel and materials management are only symptoms of a system that was recognised to be in need of “major surgery” over a decade ago.

Recently, the Parliamentary Secretary for Health, Mr Joseph Hamilton informed us that “a needful reform is required if the Ministry of Health is to better its current mode of operation.” 

The Leader of the Opposition has laid a motion in the National Assembly for an inquiry to be held into the criminal violence that took place in Guyana between 2004 and 2010.

Minister Rohee’s announcement that the government has agreed to change the name of the police in Guyana from the Guyana Police Force to the Guyana Police Service was greeted by some of my drinking colleagues with much hilarity.

If anything proves that the PPP/C has discounted receiving African votes in the near future it must be its decision to change the proposed site of the 1823 monument from the Independence Square to Carifesta Avenue and its administratively incorrect and flimsy excuse for doing so!

Lest we succumb to the hopelessness that can very easily result from what has been a most acrimonious and debilitating political year, the holiday season presents a good opportunity for us to take a short break and turn our minds in other directions.

“What is to be feared is not so much the immorality of the great as the fact that immorality may lead to greatness.

It is generally thought that all conscious practices proceed from some kind of theoretical construct and that if the theory is wrong, the practice will most likely prove insufficient.

Across the political divide, after a year in office, the populace appears to have given up any expectations that, with the exception of national elections sometime soon, much will result from the presidency of Mr.