Black Immigrant Daily News

“Apartheid” is the Afrikaans’ word for “apartness”, which became the official policy in South Africa after the National Party (NP) – the party of the Afrikaans – descended from Dutch settlers – became the Government. Basically, it ruled that Whites were superior to non-Whites – especially Africans. While the practice had been in place since SA became independent in 1913, a series of laws were enacted to ensure that people could be punished if they didn’t comply.

There are claims that an “apartheid” state’s being established here in Guyana – even though an African-backed Government (the PNC) received independence in 1964 and ruled until 1992!! They controlled the National Assembly – where laws are passed – between 2011 and 2015, and returned to office between 2015 and 2020. There was no talk of this Apartheid State being created during those periods, so this must’ve been initiated after the PPP returned to office in August 2020.

So, to discern whether we have creeping apartheid, your Eyewitness will enumerate some laws passed by the NP in the 1950s!! “The Population Registration Act” (1950), which relegated all South Africans to a particular racial group; “The Group Areas Act (1950), which defined residential and business areas for the sole use of particular race groups. This coordinated with forced removal. The Separate Amenities Act (1953) – members of different races couldn’t use the same public amenities; The Bantu Education Act (1953), which redefined the content and purpose of African (and Indian) schooling.

Other early apartheid legislation introduced sharp new curbs over the urban residential rights of Africans and rights as urban workers: The Native Labour (Settlement of Disputes) Act (1953) excluded African workers from the formal system of industrial relations; The Native Laws Amendment Act (1952) and Natives (Urban Areas) Amendment Act (1955) tightened the terms under which African men and women might legally live in urban areas; The Native Building Workers Act (1951) and Industrial Conciliation Act (1956) extended the operation of job colour bars and passes to women.

A further set of laws passed by the NP sought to restrict legally permissible forms of political behaviour and protest: The Criminal Law Amendment Act (1953) – a response to the 1952 Defiance Campaign – made it a criminal offence subject to heavy penalties to break any regulation “by way of protest, or in support of any campaign against any law; The Public Safety Act (1953) gave the Minister of Justice the power to declare a state of emergency during which the ordinary law of the country would be suspended. The Prohibition of Interdicts Act (1956) denied Africans the right to lodge interdicts and stop actions that may cause harm.And this was just in the 1950s!! Similar to today’s Guyana??

…in Kenya

Your Eyewitness has been keeping you up-to-date with the elections in Kenya, since they had done everything – and then some that’s being suggested – to resolve their political impasse. Like us, free and fair elections were returned in 1992. They’ve tried power sharing with parties – and leaders; decentralisation; cultural policies; electoral reform; counting at the place of poll; POSTING OF EVERY SINGLE ONE of the 44000+ SoPs on the internet, so that everyone could check and add up votes themselves!!

All of this took place after disputed elections in 2007 led to 1300 persons being killed in riots, and the Constitution was changed to allow the above innovations with the 2008 “National Accord and Reconciliation Act”. So, there were elections in 2013, then 2017. The latter was objected to, and was reversed by the Supreme Court, and new elections were held.Now that the 2022 elections were won by Ruto – the outsider – the insider, Odinga, has gone to the Courts!! No matter what system you have, it depends on the maturity of the leaders!!What to do??

…of cops and robbers?

All your Eyewitness can say about the revelations coming out of the Bascom affaire is that there’s definitely a fraternity of cops and robbers in Guyana.They know each other, and even hang out!!

NewsAmericasNow.com

Black Immigrant Daily News

NewsAmericasNow.com

Black Immigrant Daily News

News

Stock photo

TWO men were murdered on Monday morning in separate instances in Maloney and Caroni, taking the murder toll for the year to 375.

At this time last year, there were 236 murders.

In the most recent of the two, 33-year-old Keith Balramsingh of Jonathan Trace, Cunupia, died after he was shot when he went to move his vehicle.

Police said Balramsingh was at Kamachie’s Bar, along the South Trunk Road, Kelly Village, around 2 am, when he was asked to move his vehicle, a grey Kia Sportage, which was blocking another vehicle in the carpark.

Police said while in the driver’s seat, Balramsingh’s killers opened fire hitting him in the upper body. He was found slumped over on the front passenger seat and taken to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex where he was pronounced dead at 2.20 am.

About an hour before Balramsingh was murdered, Maloney PH taxi driver Damien “Brainy” Danclair was gunned down while liming.

Police said at about 1.20am Danclair, 39, of Building Seven, Maloney Gardens, was in the carpark along with others, when he was shot. Residents reported hearing gunshots and later found Danclair on the ground bleeding.

He was taken to the Arima District Hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival.

On Newsday’s Facebook page on Monday, a friend of Danclair wrote that his murder was heart-breaking.

“This is so heartbreaking. Brainy you were loved and will always be in our hearts. Such a selfless soul, with the most contagious smile and laugh. The heavens weep.”

Police said Danclair was not known to be involved in any criminal activities and like Balramsingh, they had no immediate motive for his killing.

NewsAmericasNow.com

Black Immigrant Daily News

Acting Chief Education Officer, Dr Kasan Troupe, has assured that shadow teachers contracted by the Education Ministry for 10 months will continue to be compensated as they offer one-on-one support to select students.

Troupe was responding to concerns that this category of teachers was in high demand due to the novel coronavirus pandemic and other issues relative to their payments and benefits.

Speaking at an Education Ministry press conference on Monday, Troupe provided clarity on the definition of a shadow teacher.

“Just to clarify, shadow teachers are what we call educational paraprofessionals, and so, these are individuals who are high school graduates, may have been exposed to some post-secondary education, (or) have a natural proclivity to working with children, and so they indicate to us that interest,” she explained.

These individuals are then trained and deployed to work with students who have been referred to the Education Ministry after being assessed by a psycho-educational clinician.

“They (the clinicians) send us a report to say this student, for example, will need support for going to the bathroom, he needs support to eat, or will need support to do tasks in the classroom,” Troupe informed.

Shadow teachers, she said, can also be persons referred to the Education Ministry by parents.

These individuals are caregivers who are working with children at home, and then are trained after being referred to the ministry.

“They (shadow teachers) are compensated under a contractual arrangement for 10 months throughout the system from September to June, and we compensate them according to that facility that we have provided for our children,” Troupe outlined.

“… And so the benefits under that contract will be accorded to those persons as they come into this paraprofessional experience, to support our students who need individualised support,” she stated.

NewsAmericasNow.com