OPINION: President Ali’s 1000-man initiative a vision who time has come, but some of his men must go

Last Updated on Monday, 31 October 2022, 7:06 by Denis Chabrol

BY GHK Lall

The news is awash with appeals and push from His Excellency, President Ali to make his 1000-man initiative gather some momentum, become a success.  To give the President his due, I think that there are embedded noble objectives in that the uplift of men and younger males in Guyana are the intended beneficiaries.  I salute the President for his PPP Government thinking of this program, and then expending effort and some capital to make this take shape, begin a march towards reality.  It is sorely needed in this country, but it has to be done right.  The right approach to bolster the right vision that is there.  The right strategies which could evolve on the ground, in how they are given life.  And, of course, the right people, who would be the ones to pilot the thing forward.  It is on this last score that I labor, run into some headwinds that buffet into slowing down, even throw off course. 

The right people are key, and that is almost a restatement of the ordinary, so expected that is in any endeavor.  Though the President is in the forefront, there can be no ignoring those that are a part of his political makeup.  Thus, I am compelled to question whether the altruisms of the President’s 1000-man initiative are coming from the right source, one that can be considered confidence boosting, ennobling, because it is trustworthy.  Trusted because it is authentic and unsullied as to roots.  My difficulty compounds here, when I observe a PPP Government that houses so many senior, visible, audible, and influential faces that have either allegedly ran afoul of what is legal.  Or have collided with what is decent and dignified.  Or have stained what is protective and respectable.

I must make something clear at this stage: there is no reference at all to that composite of names and faces supposed to represent a rogues’ gallery of abusers.  Some caught me by surprise, while there are some that are left out.  But this I say relative to this 1000-man initiative: how can it gain traction, be considered credible, when so many in the PPP Government, its inner sanctums and power apparatus, are viewed as the worst examples of what can and could be bad models for Guyanese men and boys.

Like it or lump it, it is my position that a significant section of the PPP Government is the visible embodiment of what is detrimental to the interests of not only men and boys, but of Guyanese women also.  When so many in such a pivotal national political group-one calling the shots-are voicelessly behind such an initiative, then questions arise as to who and what could be good for males of Guyana.  When almost a quarter of a group, if not more, is assessed as problematic in the areas of abuse, possessing of tawdry records, then who is going to want their husband, their brother, their son, their nephew, or their neighbor to respond and rally to the President’s 1000-man initiative?  I emphasize a good vision in and of itself, but one that is hollowed out by the presence of the close companions of the President himself.  This is not me engaging in the contentious, but of what the record and environment attest to on the basis of past allegedly sordid behaviors.

Perhaps, it may be more helpful if I were to present this in another way using different words.  I ask this simple, but tellingly piercing, question, which has storied spiritual roots: can a rotten tree bear clean fruit?  Can a bitter root bring forth sweet leaves?  This is where I encounter uncertainty on the President’s 1000-man initiative.  Would right thinking, right behaving Guyanese with the proper prowess and history venture forth and volunteer?  I leave that hanging in the air, and for others to weigh.  But what I can put on the table right under the gaze of Guyana’s head of state is this: the same constituent(s) that he so wisely sets out to assist have been hampered by what his own brothers in official positions in this PPP Government saw it fit to besmirch.  I remind him of social media posts that were intended to intimidate into silence, to suppress those who speak out against the alleged atrocities and criminalities of his PPP Government, and under his watch.  The result is that the many young Guyanese males and females, who were helped for almost a decade could not continue out, because of discretion; and it was because of the vileness of his comrades, some who now make the rounds in cyberspace in picture form.

The point is that long before President’s Ali’s commendable 1000-man initiative was unveiled, some little work, some tiny efforts, some volunteer energies were dedicated by a few to the very objectives of which so much noise is now made.  I will give, have given, the President the benefit of the doubt that he means well with this 1000-man initiative.  If he is really desirous of, bent on, leaving this as a lasting legacy to Guyanese society, then I have one humble and respectful recommendation to offer to His Excellency, President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali.  Get rid of that gang of four or 8 or whatever number it is from the bowels and nerve centers of his PPP Government.  That will be the day.  If President Ali continues in blissful dismissal, then his 1000-man initiative risks ending up with the same fate of other inspired ideas.  Down for the count.  Diminished by lack of consensus about the purity of his ideals, if not the genuineness of he himself.  To reiterate: I applaud the 1000-man initiative of the President.  Now what is he going to do about those in his bosom, who stand as mockeries of the very things that he tries to achieve?  Keep them and credibility suffers.  Let them hang around, and eventually they hang not only the President, but probably all of us.