Op-Ed: Ogunseye’s comments cannot be justified under rubric of freedom of expression

By Anil Nandlall (PPP Executive; Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs)

In my capacity as Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Secretary of the Defence Board and indeed, a citizen of Guyana, I feel compelled to condemn in the strongest possible terms, the exhortations by Tacuma Ogunseye to the

Armed Forces of Guyana to join a mass uprising against the lawful and democratically elected Government of Guyana, referencing the Forces’ “ready access to weapons”, for them to be “battle ready”, and preying to the dominant Afro-Guyanese composition of the said Forces.

This racist incendiary call for public disorder and resistance, positioned as an alternative to the democratic process of Local Government Elections lawfully due, is capable of amounting to several criminal offences, including but not limited to, sedition, seditious libel, inciting riotous behaviour and exciting racial hostility in order to create a breakdown of law and order within the State of Guyana, if not treason.

Certainly, such inflam - matory publications cannot be justified under the rubric of freedom of expression as guaranteed by the Constitution, since Article 146 which guarantees such freedom, expressly excepts “…hate speeches or other expressions, in whatever form, capable of exciting hostility or ill-will against any person or class of persons.” [Article 146 (3)].

The unvarnished truth is that persons such as Tacuma Ogunseye and those of his ilk are of a bygone era, stuck in a time warp long gone, and which have no place in modern Guyana, and indeed, in any modern democratic society. Nevertheless, we cannot become complacent and ignore these dangerous threats intended to strike at the foundation of the freedoms we enjoy and the rule of law, which protects us as a civilised nation.

All right-thinking citizens must therefore echo their voices against such perilous rhetoric and the law enforcement agencies are obliged to take such action as they deem necessary. History has shown that when such conduct is ignored, it inspires the perpetrators with greater boldness to public detriment.

ThePeople’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) has led the charge in rallying condemnation for the March 9, 2023 comments made by Executive Member of the Working People’s Alliance (WPA), Tacuma Ogunseye.

To date, the business community - the Private Sector Commission (PSC) and the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce (GCCI), among others; the religious community - the Central Islamic Organization of Guyana (CIOG), the Pandits Council, the Guyana Central Arya Samaj, and the Guyana Inter Religious Organization (IRO); as well as the trade union movement, via the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG), have all come out in condemnation.

The Chairman of the Joint Services of Guyana and Chief of Staff of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), Brigadier Godfrey Bess, has also released a statement. Bess charged that: “…irrespective of the its ethnic composition, the Joint Services of Guyana is an apolitical institution and will continue to uphold the novel position of service to the people of Guyana…. social and political activists and commentators (must) refrain from these and other misleading and mischievous remarks which incite racial tensions, deviating from the promotion of the peace and security which the [Joint] Services are mandated to mandate.” Further, it was noted that the Joint Services – which comprises of the Guyana Police Force, the Guyana Prison Service and the Guyana Fire Service along with the GDF – is guided by the Constitution which mandates it to stand firm in the protection of the law and in the execution of its duties, in keeping with its constitutional responsibilities, and not by any partisan values and interests.

The leaders of the APNU and AFC, Aubrey Norton, and Khemraj Ramjattan, have, to date, refused to condemn the comments. While Ramjattan has remained silent, Norton, when questioned during a news conference on Thursday (March 16, 2023), said only that Ogunseye’s comments represented a “bad” choice of words. He said, “Yes there might have been a bad choice of language…you would notice that we did not endorse the language that was used….there are many people who agree with what Ogunseye said….when it comes to reflection of reality, indeed (the comments addressed that).” Norton added that the condemnation of Ogunseye’s comments is the PPP/C attempting to “rally” its supporters.

Further, in a prepared speech, at his news conference, Norton said, “The Opposition believes that Mr. Tacuma Ogunseye’s right to free speech must be respected even though we believe that his language could have been better chosen. The choice of his language is his preserve. Any attempt to use the law against Mr. Ogunseye will further erode the guardrails of democracy….Mr. Ogunseye accurately described the situation in Guyana and probably out of frustration he went a little too far.”

Ogunseye, with whom Norton shared a stage on March 9, 2023, during a public meeting in Buxton, East

Coast Demerara, stated that in the “present campaign” the WPA has “clear objectives”. The first of these, according to him, was “to get the African team in a state of battle readiness… the Afro-Guyanese police and soldiers… would stand with Afro-Guyanese in resisting mainly Indo-Guyanese supporting the PPP/C.” He said, “…no government could survive if they don’t have the support of the military and those who carry weapons for the state… once we organise our people and once we begin to fight we will ensure that our brothers and sisters in uniform will do the right thing…a white diplomat pulled me in a corner and he said I don’t understand how people complain that they are oppressed and they are holding guns in their hands. They are the majority in the army, in the police, and they say they are oppressed. What he was saying is our problem is our own making. Our problem is our own making. Anytime we turn those guns in the right direction it is over.”

The WPA has since issued a statement in support of Ogunseye. The statement on March 10, 2023, said, “The WPA stands in solidarity with its longstanding member, Tacuma Ogunseye… Mr Ogunseye did not incite the forces as the statement insinuates. He simply call on the men in uniform to do the right thing and not turn their guns on Guyanese citizens protesting and resisting government overreach.”

Regardless the attempts at justification, Ogunseye’s comments have been described as hateful, racially inflammatory and terrorist in nature, by President Dr. Irfaan Ali.

TheWorking People’s Alliance (WPA) Executive, David Hinds, has clashed with four members of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) – Ganesh Mahipaul, Natasha Singh-Lewis, Daniel Seeram and Georgetown Mayor, Ubraj Narine – over their rejection of comments made by the WPA’s Tacuma Ogunseye and Rhonda Layne.

The four in a statement on March 11, 2023, said, “As political leaders and concerned citizens of Guyana, we listened via social media to a public meeting held by the Working People's Alliance (WPA) at Buxton Line Top on March 9th, 2023. During the meeting, one of the speakers made statements that we found to be derogatory, distasteful, and hurtful to the East Indian community of Guyana. Specifically, we wish to condemn the speaker’s remarks where it referred to East Indians coming from the slums of India and living in deplorable places like pipes. These remarks further insinuated that the alleged conditions under which East Indians lived in India made them undeserving of lands in Guyana. We want to make it clear that we condemn and distance ourselves from any attack on any race in Guyana, including our African brothers and sisters. While we understand that the speaker may have made the comments out of hurt for what is happening in some Afro-Guyanese communities, we cannot allow such conduct to pass without being called out.”

Meanwhile, former PNCR General Secretary and APNU+AFC Coalition Parliamentarian, Geeta Chandan-Edmond, in a statement said, “I have noted, with great concern, pronouncements made at a public meeting hosted by the Working Peoples Alliance (WPA) on Thursday 09th March at the village of Buxton. Some of the speakers communicated sentiments which must be strongly condemned since they can lead to public disorder and anarchy in an already ethnically-inflamed environment. As Guyanese, we must move swiftly to initiate mature dialogue aimed at promoting harmony, tolerance and trust. I wish to publicly disassociate myself from the inflammatory statements and call for responsible actions and commentaries, from politicians, civil society and activists alike.”

The WPA’s Layne, at the March 9, 2023 meeting in Buxton said, “All these other people who come here, who suddenly getting land, many of them came from the slums of India… they lived in pipes, they live in all the deplorable places.”

Ogunseye, at the same event stated that in the “present campaign” the WPA has “clear objectives”. The first of these, according to him, was “to get the African team in a state of battle readiness… the Afro-Guyanese police and soldiers… would stand with Afro-Guyanese in resisting mainly Indo-Guyanese supporting the PPP/C.” He said, “…no government could survive if they don’t have the support of the military and those who carry weapons for the state…once we organise our people and once we begin to fight we will ensure that our brothers and sisters in uniform will do the right thing…a white diplomat pulled me in a corner and he said I don’t understand how people complain that they are oppressed and they are holding guns in their hands. They are the majority in the army, in the police, and they say they are oppressed. What he was saying is our problem is our own making. Our problem is our own making. Anytime we turn those guns in the right direction it is over.”

Hinds in his response to the four PNCR members rejected their move. He also named the PNCR leader in a seeming attempt to goad him into a response to the four PNCR members. Hinds said, “Aubrey has to decide whether he is going to go down in history as the Leader of the Opposition who deliver opposition prisoners to the enemy. That’s what those brothers and sister on the PNC has done.”

Notably, Hinds, himself, has been under fire for his own comments in the past few years. The United Statesbased Hinds has been one of the more vocal personalities aligned to the APNU+AFC Coalition calling for persons to do everything possible to undermine the government. On November 22, 2021, David Hinds, said: “I think the time has come to defend ourselves…it is time for action…I am also repeating my call to undermine the government. I said that in August and I am saying it again. A leader does not have to tell you how to undermine the government. There are many ways…undermine the government and continue to do so.” At the same forum, Hinds went further to call for Indian-owned businesses to be boycotted. He said, “They were enablers and they are enablers….it is your money that is spending on Regent Street that they does take and give to the PPP as contributions for elections so they can get into government…undermine the economic partners of the PPP.” Prior to that, while addressing a small group of protestors at Victoria, East Coast Demerara in August 2021, Hinds said: “In whatever way you can undermine this (PPP/C) government. Undermine this government in whatever way you can. I can’t tell you how to do it, but ‘hint to Baniba mek Quashiba tek notice’ (Old African-Guyanese proverb meaning actions to hint something will result in awareness). Undermine this government!”

The PPP/C government has already signaled that Ogunseye could be cited for exciting racial hostility, terrorism, sedition and seditious libel.