Lincoln Lewis is mischievously misleading Guyanese on Prime Minister’s portfolio

Dear Editor,

Allow me from the onset to state emphatically that the assertions surrounding my portfolio as Prime Minister of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, made by Mr. Lincoln Lewis in his recent ‘Eye on Guyana’ column, are blatantly false, and are meant to mislead Guyanese.

Similarly false are his claims that the Government of Guyana is somehow not demonstrating respect for the Constitution and laws of Guyana. This edict that is masqueraded as an opinion piece on Government’s constitutional performance confirms the widely held view that the author is content to faithfully clutch at straws floated by his political masters in the Opposition, without first seeking the facts.

The irresponsible suggestion that I am not allowed to function within the constitutional powers afforded to the post of Prime Minister is irrational, even by Lewis’s standards.

Nonetheless, the deliberate attempt to distort the facts about the Office of the Prime Minister warrants a reminder, which I am happy to provide, that Lewis’s narrative best fits my immediate predecessor, since the post of Prime Minister was denuded under the previous APNU+AFC administration.

Veteran regional journalist Rickey Singh, in his Guyana Chronicle column of November 2015, succinctly pointed to the traditionally enormous powers of an Executive President as Head of State, as well as the constitutional responsibilities allotted to the Prime Minister – normally the number two person in the Guyana Cabinet. Singh wrote, “The President seems busily engaged in the further constitutional empowerment of his former Army colleague, ex-Guyana Defence Force Colonel Joseph Harmon.

According to Singh, “This leaves no doubt about the reality of a twosome power status quo – he and ‘Comrade’ Joe.”

Following his analysis, Singh was forced to depart the newspaper by the vindictive APNU+AFC regime, for stating the facts on the sidelining of the then Prime Minister, whose duties were reduced to mere ceremonial appearances to deliver pep talks, ribbon-cutting ceremonies, and photo ops which were gleefully accepted because there was no meaningful portfolio offered.

Was the violence the work of PPP infiltrators or PNC thugs?

Dear Editor,

The morning of June 28, 2022 marked another dark day of racial violence in Guyana. Responding to a mischievously inaccurate Facebook posting that stated that a Police officer who allegedly shot and killed Quinton Bacchus was released from Police custody, the residents of Golden Grove took to the streets in protest.

Bacchus was killed in an alleged shootout, after reportedly trying to sell a firearm to an undercover Policeman in the Haslington New Scheme on June 10, 2022. The protest ended up at the Mon Repos Market, where it quickly turned violent. Vendors of Indian descent were beaten and robbed, and their stalls and transportation were destroyed and set on fire. Motorists and commuters were stranded for the entire day, as the protestors blocked the roadway with burning debris. No one was arrested.

Later, Dr David Hinds went on Facebook and gave his account of the mayhem, blaming the PPP/C for planting infiltrators in the midst of the “innocent” protestors to create havoc and to let it appear as though Afro-Guyanese were behind the beating, burning and looting at the Mon Repos Market. He proclaimed the innocence of those who participated in the “peaceful” protest and said the PPP chickens were coming home to roost. He soon had his racist partner parroting the same rhetoric on Kams TV.

Well, if there were really “PPP infiltrators” who created the terror at the Mon Repos Market on June 28 of last year, one would expect the likes of David Hinds to be happy if they were caught and severely punished for trying to blame it all on the innocent protestors from Golden Grove.

Then earlier this month, on February 1, unrest again erupted in another PNC stronghold, this time in Buxton, after members of the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) arrested a drug trafficker who tried to get away with over 52lbs of cannabis in his car.

Demanding his release, the Buxton protestors blocked the road with burning debris, terrorising commuters and setting afire the truck of a businessman who has nothing to do with their demands.

Police Commissioner Clifton Hicken issued a warning that this behaviour would not be tolerated, and shortly thereafter, issued arrest warrants for 12 persons accused of terrorism in the Mon Repos Market on June 28 of last year. I expect more to follow.

Now, if David Hinds was right, those twelve wanted for terrorism should all be PPP supporters who were paid handsomely to infiltrate the “peaceful” protestors in Golden Grove, to give Afro-Guyanese a bad name. He should be happy that, finally, justice has been served on these PPP “house slaves”.

But not so, his rhetoric has been changed. He’s now claiming that the wanted twelve were all innocent “peaceful” protestors, and are being hunted by the Police because they’re Black men.

Come on, David; you can’t have it both ways. Before they were wanted, they were PPP infiltrators. Now that they’re being rounded up for terrorism, they’re innocent altar boys. To me, they’re plain ole PNC thugs that need to be put away with all those who are inciting violence and spewing racism every day on social media.

Sincerely, Harry Gill

As upholders of the Constitution, the PPP/C has always embraced the traditional posture to the Prime Minister’s portfolio, where, for instance, former Prime Minister Samuel Hinds had been in charge of energy, and served as the head of Government business in the National Assembly. This approach has not changed.

Upon return to Government in 2020, one of the first things President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali did was to ensure the independence of the Prime Minister’s Office by relocating the office from the same building as the Office of the President.

The President then assigned meaningful duties to my office. Apart from my role as the Leader of Government’s business in the National Assembly, I also have responsibility for the telecommunications sector, which includes the Telecommunications Agency, National Data Management Authority (NDMA), Public Utilities Commission (PUC), and the Guyana Post Office Corporation (GPOC).

Additionally, I have been assigned the Civil Defence Commission and disaster preparedness activities in Guyana. My office also has responsibility for the energy sector, exercising oversight of the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA), Guyana Power and Light (GPL), the Hinterland Electrification Company Inc, (HECI), as well as the Guyana Nation- al Broadcast Authority (GNBA). Further, my office is also tasked with oversight of the Government Information Sector, which includes the Department of Public Information (DPI), the Guyana National Newspapers Limited (GNNL), and the National Communications Network (NCN).

The baseless and reckless nature of the claims from Mr. Lincoln Lewis and his handlers in the Opposition follow a now-familiar pattern of maligning state institutions, officials and public servants, and attempting to shake public confidence in the fundamental pillars of our democracy and governance.

We are at an unprecedented moment of our cherished history. Our democratic principles and rights have been solidly restored, the economy is strong to the point that we are once again able to attract foreign investors in significant numbers; which is evidence of the vast potential that Guyana wields as a ‘head cornerstone’, leading the conversations on global issues, as described by Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines Dr. Ralph Gonsalves at the recent opening of the International Energy Conference and Expo Guyana 2023.

Sincerely, Prime Minister, Hon. Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips