August 21, 2024
For Immediate Release
President Ali failed to inform that APA supported the first National Toshaos Conference in 2003
The Amerindian Peoples Association (APA) keenly listened to His Excellency President Dr. Irfaan Ali’s presentation at the opening of the National Toshaos Council’s Conference on Monday at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre. We are now compelled to respond to a series of inaccuracies presented by the President during his nearly two-hour, politically charged speech.
President Ali’s portrayal of the history of Indigenous Peoples’ development in Guyana was incomplete and misleading, omitting several critical facts. In his move to institute the NTC as the “custodians of Indigenous Peoples’ hopes and dreams and a protector of their rights,” President Ali attributed the annual gathering of Toshaos as a hallmark achievement accomplished by his Political Party.
It is important to remind President Ali that his government or political party did not initiate the first National Toshaos Conference. In fact, it was the Amerindian Peoples Association (APA) that supported the inaugural conference in 2003. The 2003 meeting was held in the Region Two community of Mainstay/Whayaka under the theme ‘Working Together for a Better Future’ and can be confirmed by members of the President’s political party – who were also leading members of the APA at the time. The first NTC meeting was also attended by then Minister of Amerindian Affairs Carolyn Rodrigues, and a simple fact check by the President would have brought this to his attention.
The 2003 conference, supported by the APA, was a landmark event that brought Indigenous leaders together to discuss and address issues affecting their communities. The APA played a pivotal role in supporting the establishment of such a platform for Indigenous voices, a fact that should not be overlooked, as was done by the President in his attempt to rewrite the history of Indigenous Peoples’ development in Guyana.
At its inception, the National Toshaos Conference was intended to be a vital mechanism for Indigenous self-governance, advocacy, and the protection of their rights and interests in Guyana. It was critical at that point and remains critical that Indigenous voices form part of the national conversation and decision-making processes. To date, we are seeing the continued fight of our Indigenous Peoples to have their voices heard and recognized in the decision-making process.
When our leaders met in 2003, they had hoped that the National Toshaos Conference would be an annual gathering where Toshaos and other Indigenous representatives could come together, discuss, and address the issues facing their communities. The Conference was supposed to empower leaders to advocate for their people’s rights, development, and well-being.
Our leaders had hoped that the Conference would provide a forum for dialogue between the Indigenous leadership and the government. The National Toshaos Conference was conceptualized to also highlight the importance of preserving and promoting Indigenous cultures, languages, and traditions. Our leaders wanted the Conference to serve as a space for leaders to advocate for protecting our cultural heritage and resist any policies or actions that might threaten it.
One purpose of the NTC Conference was to address issues related to land ownership, mining, logging, and other activities that impact ancestral lands.
Over the years, we have consistently seen increased government dominance in the NTC Conference agenda. Additionally, we have heard Toshaos complaining about not having access to a draft agenda prior to the conference. These complaints come from Toshaos, who sat on the Executive of the previous NTC, and those who are also on the current Executive.
The APA saw this on Monday when Toshaos were given the agenda minutes before the afternoon session commenced and asked to adopt an agenda that only a few may have had access to and that they played no part in creating. It is clear that the NTC needs to put in place mandates and procedures free from political and other influences. These mandates and procedures should set out how the Conference should be structured and adopted by the entire NTC membership after careful review.
Over the last three days, we have seen the government lambast Toshaos for having differing opinions or questioning them.
It now begs the question of whose conference is this?
Another attack on traditional Indigenous leadership we saw was the attack on District Councils – whether formalized or not. The attack came from both President Ali and Minister of Amerindian Affairs Pauline Sukhai.
The APA wishes to inform the President and Minister that Indigenous Peoples have traditionally gathered as Districts to manage and protect their territories. Therefore, Minister Sukhai’s deeming the meeting of Indigenous Leaders in their territories as “operating under the banner of District Councils” is a slap in the face of our ancestors’ traditions and customs. The Amerindian Act recognizes that Indigenous Peoples gather as Districts, and therefore, the inclusion of the gazetting of District Councils is merely a formality.
Our peoples deserve to rightfully meet to discuss issues as our ancestors did without being deemed as illegal or masquerading by the government.
Minister Sukhai should have informed the NTC and President Ali that her Ministry has received applications from the Upper Mazaruni and North Pakaraimas to formally recognise their District Councils as provided for in Section 35 of the Amerindian Act. Those applications are lingering in the Ministry somewhere without any priority being attached to them.
We remind the Minister that the Amerindian Act outlines her functions for the recognition of District Councils and the criteria to be met for their establishment. We must add that political loyalty is not one of those conditions, therefore, why the reluctance?
The APA also reminds President Ali that Indigenous Peoples were the beneficiaries of scholarships before 1992 and finds it disingenuous that he sought to erase all the strides made by Indigenous Peoples before the PPP/C took office in 1992. We advise the President to ensure that his addresses are not used to deliberately mislead and revise our country and peoples’ history in political campaigning.